Penniman, Capt. Edward Whalebone Gate

The Penniman Whalebone Gate is a feature of the Captain Edward Penniman House property in Eastham, a two-and-a-half-story Second Empire French-style house built in 1867 for Captain Edward Penniman, considered in its day the "finest house in Eastham." Penniman was a New Bedford-based whaling captain who made lengthy voyages to southern and Arctic waters over his career, including a South Atlantic trip that returned with one of the largest hauls of whale oil ever landed at New Bedford; he never lost a vessel under his command. A gateway made from whale jawbones stands at the entrance to the property, a distinctive ornamental feature directly tied to Penniman's whaling career; the property, now within Cape Cod National Seashore, is significant as the only whaling captain's house in Eastham and the only one within the Seashore's boundaries.

Penniman, Capt. Edward Whalebone Gate is a landmark in Eastham, Barnstable County. It is one of 6,558 landmarks documented in Barnstable County, among 6,897 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.

The site sits at 41.8186, -69.9653 near Eastham. The nearest cataloged historic site is Penniman, Capt. Edward Hitching Posts (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Penniman, Capt. Edward Stone Retaining Wall, Knowles, Sylvanus Doane and Harriet A. Freeman House, and Penniman, Capt. Edward House.

This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.