Highland House Museum

Highland House Museum is a small local-history museum in a former summer hotel in North Truro, a few steps from Highland Light. It makes a good second stop if you want the Outer Cape story behind the shoreline, with a short lobby video and a self-paced tour of the rooms. The museum is seasonal, so check its current schedule before planning around it.

The visit begins with a short film about the Highlands and Truro. Then explore exhibits on Wampanoag history, maritime life and the Cape Cod Railway, along with recreated early-20th-century rooms upstairs. Visitors often find a compact museum with more to read and see than a quick walk-through suggests.

Isaac Morton Small opened Highland House in 1907 as the anchor hotel for a cluster of vacation cottages around Cape Cod Light. A 1908 account describes a wraparound porch and a large dining hall serving family-style meals with live organ music. Guests also had a pool hall, bowling alley and roller rink. Those were hotel-era features, not amenities to expect today.

The museum tells more than the resort story. Its exhibits cover Wampanoag history and the area's industries, including salt milling, fishing, shipwrecks, railroad travel and domestic crafts. A wetu outside is part of the People of the First Light exhibit.

Upstairs, a recreated guest room interprets Edward and Josephine Hopper's time in Truro. The museum also has a rotating collection of Cape artists, so the art on view can change between visits.

The museum is at 6 Highland Light Road, the first building on the left after turning onto the road from South Highland Road. Highland Light and Highland Links are close by, making this an easy addition to a lighthouse visit. The small gift shop carries books, maps, postcards and work by local artists; restrooms are reported at the museum while it is open.