Gloucester
English fishermen from the Dorchester Company started casting their nets here in 1623. Villages include Lanesville, Annisquam, and Magnolia.
Orientation
Cape Ann Vacations: Chamber of Commerce
Explore
Cape Ann Museum, 27 Pleasant Street. Art, history, and culture museum with library and archives.
First Parish Burial Ground (est. 1644), near 122 Centennial Ave.
HarborWalk, 10 Rogers Street. Markers along trail tell Gloucester’s history.
Sargent House Museum, 49 Middle Street. Early history of Gloucester from its beginnings as a farming and lumbering outpost to its evolution into the country’s premier seaport.
Research
Gloucester Archives, City Hall, 9 Dale Avenue. Property records, vital records, maps, genealogies, vertical files, and more.
Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Library, 2 Dale Avenue.
Digital Heritage Collection: maps, postcards, and more.
Online Books & Records
Gloucester, Massachusetts: Cemetery Gravestone Inscriptions Vol. 1: First Parish Burial Ground (1995)
Gloucester, Massachusetts: Cemetery Gravestone Inscriptions Vol. 2 (1995)
Gloucester, Massachusetts: Names and Property of Early Settlers 1642-1714/5 (1995)
Gloucester, Massachusetts: Kettle Cove and Fresh Water Cover: Early Settlers 1642-1714/5 (1995)
Gloucester, Massachusetts: Lanes Cove to Sandy Bay Land Grants 1687/8 (1995)
Gloucester & Rockport Burials 1711-1898 Inscribed on Gravestones (1996)
Gloucester Town Records Vol. 2 Index 1692-1816 (2005)
History of Gloucester, Cape Ann, including the town of Rockport by John J. Babson (1860)
History of the Town and City of Gloucester, Cape Ann, Massachusetts by James R. Pringle (1892)