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Cape Ann Historical Museum: Gloucester History

Gloucester History

17th Century

When the French explorer Samuel de Champlain made his second trip to Cape Ann in 1606, he came ashore in Gloucester for a peaceful encounter with some of the 200 Native Americans who had settled in the area. Before he left, he drew a map of Gloucester harbor which he called le beau port. Eight years later, the English Captain John Smith named the area around Gloucester Cape Tragabigzanda after a Turkish princess. Later, England’s King Charles renamed it in honor of his mother Queen Anne.
The Native Americans who extended the hand of friendship to the explorers became their victims. By 1617, three-quarters of the Native American population in Massachusetts had died of common diseases brought from Europe.
By 1623, the English knew there was an abundance of codfish in the waters off Gloucester, and a vessel belonging to the Dorchester Company started a settlement on the coast. A group of Pilgrims also sailed to Gloucester and built the first racks for drying fish. In the years that followed, both groups experienced difficulty in establishing a profitable operation.
The settlement of Gloucester continued, however, and farming became the livelihood of many residents. The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony incorporated the Town of Gloucester in 1642, and the Governor of Salem began distributing land titles. The Reverend Richard Blynman was the town’s first clergyman. The White-Ellery house, Gloucester

Joseph Ange RouxCorporal Trim of Gloucester, Francis Haskell Davis, MasterEarly 1820sThe town green was established where Grant Circle is today. The first meeting house and a number of residences were located there. One of them, the White-Ellery house, has survived and is located on Washington Street, not far from where it originally stood.

18th Century

The abundance of oak forests on Cape Ann played a major role in Gloucester’s emergence, along with the neighboring town of Essex, as two of the ship building capitals of New England. Early in the century, a new type of vessel was introduced which allowed crews to get out to the fishing grounds faster and make a quick return to sell their catch. For reasons not entirely clear, they were called schooners, and they would dominate Gloucester harbor into the early years of the 20th century.
The vessels made on Cape Ann were used for commercial fishing and foreign trade, and a wide range of supporting businesses were established to maintain the fleet -- sail makers, chandleries, rope walks, marine railways to name just a few. Salted fish was Gloucester’s principal export. The goods brought back included wine, fruit, salt, molasses, rum and sugar.
The hardships of the American Revolution devastated Gloucester. Some schooners were commissioned as privateers. They took prisoners of war and claimed enemy supplies at sea. In the end, nearly 400 residents died in battles, shipwrecks and as prisoners of war. British warships all but destroyed Gloucester’s fishing fleet and interrupted the profitable trading established in previous years.
By the end of the century, however, recovery was well under way. With the growing focus on maritime activities, the town center moved to the harbor, merchants opened their doors to sell a wide variety of goods, and prosperous traders and ship captains built substantial houses near the harbor. Public transportation in the form of two-horse carriages could take people from Gloucester to Boston in a day.

19th Century

Delftware, Dutch Surinam trade, 19th centuryFitz Henry (Hugh) Lane, who would become a maritime luminist artist and one of the country’s most important painters, was born in Gloucester in 1804. Itinerant artists came to paint portraits, but the mainstream of Cape Art was soon taken over by seascapes and landscapes. In the latter part of the century, the completion of a rail link to Boston made it easier for artists to visit Gloucester, and the town’s natural beauty made it a favorite of artists such as Winslow Homer. The Rocky Neck Art Colony in Gloucester is the oldest in the nation.
The fisheries prospered at mid-century and fortunes were made in trade with the Dutch colony of Surinam. Gloucester businessmen provided low grade salted fish to feed black slaves and brought back molasses which they used to make rum.
The appearance of the town was radically altered by two fires. In 1830, much of the downtown area burned, and in 1864 buildings that lined the harbor were lost. Many of the buildings in the historic West End survived, however, because they are constructed of brick and granite.
Gloucester’s granite industry began in mid-century, with retired army general Benjamin Butler leading the way. Immigrants from Finland, Sweden, and Ireland found work in the quarries, adding variety to the town’s existing population of English descendants. New vessels called stone sloops were designed and built to carry granite to ports along the eastern seaboard for use in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Toward the end of the century, immigrants from Portugal (particularly the Azores) came to work in the fishing industry. They brought new ideas and customs to Gloucester and became owners and operators of large vessels. Just before the turn of the century, immigrants from Italy began coming to Gloucester to seek opportunities in the fisheries. They, too, brought a vibrant culture, and they became a dominant force in the fishing industry.
The same railroads which brought an influx of artists to Gloucester also expanded opportunities for land-based trade and opened up the area for tourism, which was destined to emerge as one of the city’s major industries.