109 Bradford Street, by David W. Dunlap (2008).
109 Bradford Street, by David W. Dunlap (2014).
Napoleon “Gene” Poyant didn’t have much of a commute from this 1840s home, tucked behind the former Congregational Church of the Pilgrims. Poyant served in the Coast Guard during World War II, stationed at Race Point, falling in love with Provincetown in the process. In the 1950s, he ran Gene’s Pastry Shoppe, on what had been the church’s front yard on Commercial Street. It became one of the liveliest spots in town after 1960, when he opened Café Poyant, one of the first sidewalk cafés in town. The portrait artist Harvey Dodd completed the tableau. In the mid-’60s, Poyant sought to rid the town of beatniks. “Mark my words,” he warned, “we won’t have a decent town for long.”
Building Provincetown 