View from highway Point of Information - crossing the Cape Cod Canal. Photo view from highway crossing canal. The idea of linking two tidal rivers to create an all-water route across the seven mile isthmus of Cape Cod was first proposed by captain Miles Standish of the Plymoth Colony. During the American Revolution, a canal at Cape Cod took on an importance as a way to circumvent British harbor blockades. The grand opening of the Cape Cod Canal was July 29, 1914. Buzzards Bay to Rock Harbour The southernmost tip of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts stretches approximately 100 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean. This wonderful peninsula is known as Cape Cod - the north side shore opens to the cool waters of Massachusetts Bay while the southern beaches reach to the warm and gentle waters of Nantucket Sound. Centrally situated is the Town of Barnstable with shorefront on both north and south coasts.