Wellfleet Harbor certainly looked different back in the day. Like the rest of the Cape Cod, Wellfleet had been completely denuded of trees soon after it was settled by the Europeans. The windmills and derricks were for salt works that supplied Wellfleet’s fishing fleet with the salt they needed to preserve the catch. The island in the center of this sketch is Cannon Hill which is where Uncle Tim’s Foot Bridge is now. Wellfleet Harbor’s anchorage extended much further than it does today, running along Commercial Street and Main Street stretching past the present day location of Rt 6. When the railroad came to Wellfleet they built a causeway & trestle the remains of which are easily seen South of Cannon Hill. This reduced the flow to the inner harbor causing it to silt in.