Harwich Honors Historic Preservation Efforts

HARWICH - The town’s first three Preservation Awards were presented during the select board’s meeting Monday.

The Preservation Awards are an initiative of the historic district and historical commission, an effort to encourage more property owners to preserve rather than demolish historic structures. Town Meeting last May voted unanimously to establish the award program.

 With Monday night’s awards, the initiative took its first step in shining light on the importance of historic preservation. The commission issued 2026 Preservation Awards to John and Piper Carey for the restoration of the 1871 West Harwich Schoolhouse and its conversion to apartments. Preservation Awards were also issued to Bob and Barbara Nickerson for the restoration of the five-generation Nickerson homestead, a full-Cape built in the late 1700s at 617 Route 28 in Harwich Port. The third Preservation Award was issued to the Harwich Fire Association for the restoration of the 100-year-old first fire station in town at 203 Bank St.

 The concept of the awards was to acknowledge those who make the extra effort to preserve historic structures while allowing the broader community to appreciate the structures in town, commission member Paul Doane said, adding that the program will hopefully encourage builders and architects to get into the preservation mode.

 “Harwich is a delightful community, we all enjoy it here,” said Doane. “The setting is wonderful with the charm and uniqueness of it. We have hundreds of historic structures in this town, but like the Brazilian rainforest, it is gradually going away. 

 “We must take some action, because the historic district and historic commission actually doesn’t have the ability to prevent the destruction or the demolition of our historic structures,” he said. “I’d like to think we do, but we don’t. So all we can do is cajole people or hope, or give them our best blessing in terms of thinking about preserving these buildings.”

The three winners represent outstanding examples of what can be done with a strong and sturdy structure that can remain useful to the community, said Doane. He commended the award winners for their work. 

 Doane said Harwich used to have seven village schools, but only four exist today. John Carey had the foresight, interest and commitment to take the 151-year-old building and turn it into housing, something useful and practical for residents today, he said.

 The Cape Cod architectural style may be the most significant gift Cape Cod has given to the country, Doane said, and the full Cape preserved by the Nickersons is a great example of the style.

The fire station restoration project was unique, he said. It began with the Harwich Fire Association’s initial effort to establish a museum for the town’s 1926 fire engine and wound up with restoration of the old structure fire house into a museum, apartments and operating space for the association while enhancing Bank Street’s historic character, he said.

Each of the buildings will receive a 2026 Preservation Award plaque to be placed on the buildings. There will be a place set aside in town hall for a poster describing each of the projects, and when new awards are presented, the posters will be given to the Harwich Historical Society to display at the Brooks Academy Museum.