You may have heard that the Chatham Lighthouse overlooks the Chatham Bar. The story of the Pendleton rescue tells of the Coast Guard lifeboat 36500 having to “cross the Chatham Bar” on its way to rescue that tanker’s crew, An excellent locally-written book about Chatham commercial fishing is titled “Beyond the Bar: The Perilous Journey”, by Robert D.B. Carlisle. And of course, there’s The Chatham Bars Inn.

So it’s an obvious question - what, and more importantly, where exactly, is the “Chatham Bar”? And is it the “Chatham Bar”, or the “Chatham Bars”? These are questions that visitors and recent wash-ashores might naturally be embarrassed to ask of a local Chatham-ite.

We will answer this pressing question - but not yet. For now, it will remain a mystery to those not in the know.

When we find the right person to answer this question, we will ask him or her to help complete this page. If you know of a good candidate (who would be willing), let us know on Facebook, or by email.