A Brief Post-Pilgrim History of Cape Ann

Also see brief histories of: Rockport, Manchester, Gloucester and Essex.

1623
Three years after the Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock, a group from that colony arrives in Gloucester Harbor while looking for favorable fishing grounds. At the present spot of Stage Fort Park, the first fishing stages (drying areas) are built and a small temporary settlement is established.

1623
Immigrants from The Dorchester Company of England permanently settle the area and name it Gloucester, after Gloucester, England.

1629
Manchester-by-the-Sea is chartered to the Massachusetts Bay Colony by England. The town is formally incorporated in 1645.

1700
Masconomo, the sagamore of the Agawam Indian nation, is paid 3 pounds and 19 shillings for all land rights to Manchester-by-the-Sea

1713
The first schooner is launched. The superior speed and seaworthiness of this vessel, invented in Gloucester, allowed fisherman to reach new fishing grounds.

1779
The first Universalist Church in America is founded in Gloucester. Its spire still adorns Gloucester's skyline.

1790
Judith Sargent Murray, self-educated philosopher and political strategist, publishes her essay, "On The Equality Of The Sexes", the first argument for women's equality found in American literature.

1819
Essex, one of the original shipbuilding centers of New England, is incorporated as a town.

1840
The Great Blizzards of 1839 inspire great American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to write The Wreck of the Hesperus

Sandy Bay portion of Gloucester incorporates as the Town of Rockport

1862
Gloucester arguably becomes the largest fishing port in the world. Fifteen of seventy schooners fishing Georges Bank are lost at sea, creating 70 widows and 140 fatherless children.

1876
Local fisherman Alfred Johnson becomes the first to sail alone across the Atlantic Ocean.

1879
The worst year in Gloucester history -- 249 fisherman are lost at sea.

1883
Gloucester dory fisherman Howard Blackburn, lost off the coast of Newfoundland in a storm, rows for 4 days with his dead dory mate, his hands frozen to the oars. He returns to Gloucester months later, a legend and symbol of the toughness of the fisherman. Blackburn later sails solo across the Atlantic.

1880s
Gloucester becomes increasingly popular as a visitor destination. The first fashionable hotels are built, including the Hawthorne Inn, built by George O. Stacy.

1893
The Church of Our Lady of Good Voyage is built, housing the first carillon (a series of chromatic bells) built in America.

1895
Joshua Slocum embarks from Gloucester on the first solo round-the-world voyage in the "Spray".

1923
North Shore Arts Association is founded, the largest collection of art by Cape Ann artists exhibited in the history of New England. Many members become internationally recognized including Fitz Hugh Lane and Winslow Homer.

1925
Clarence Birdseye invents frozen packaging of fish, patents the process and later sells it to General Foods, former owner of the world famous Gorton's of Gloucester seafood company.

1929
John Hays Hammond, holder of over 800 U.S. patents, finishes his grand Hammond Castle overlooking Norman's Woe Rock, the setting of Longfellow's The Wreck of the Hesperus

1953
The last of the great fishing schooners, The Adventure, makes her final trip, marking the end of the age of sail.

1988
The Adventure is brought back to Gloucester as a living museum to the great age of sail. The 121 foot schooner is now a National Historic Landmark, and on Gloucester's Maritime Trail walking tour.

1994
The first annual Gloucester Seafood Festival is held in celebration of the city's maritime and historic significance as America's oldest working seaport.

1997
Warner Brothers adapts Sebastian Junger's book 'Perfect Storm' for the big screen. Films tale of the FV Andrea Gail in Gloucester.