Provincetown Books has been a key spot in town since Paul Smith opened it in 1940, though the building that houses it at 246 Commercial St. was built around 1850 by Capt. Philip Cook. Because of its big window, in which new books by local and national authors are continually rotated, it was called the Port-Hole Building. Filmmaker-writer John Waters worked there for years starting back in the 1960s and is still a regular customer.