Barnstable County, Massachusetts (Plymouth Colony)
Barnstable County, originally a part of Plymouth Colony, was formed on 2 June 1685, along with the counties of Plymouth and Bristol, by the legislature of Plymouth Colony in preparation for its 7 October 1691 annexation by the Massachusetts Bay Province. At its creation, Barnstable County was composed of the towns of Barnstable, Eastham, Falmouth, Rochester, Sandwich and Yarmouth. Barnstable County is located on Cape Cod and consists of Cape Cod and associated islands. (Some adjacent islands, however, that were previously in Dukes County, New York, now form the separate Massachusetts counties of Dukes and Nantucket.) Barnstable County's current boundary lines were drawn in 1707 and have not changed since that date.