Gloucester Harbor 1927
Gloucester's
History
America's Oldest Seaport In 1606, Samuel de Champlain
came into our harbor and named it "Le Beau Port" or
the beautiful port. A number of years later, in
1614, Captain John Smith traveled from Monhegan
Island down the coast, ending his journey at Cape
Cod. Before that, while passing the cape of land
on which Gloucester is now located, he named it "Tragabigzanda" in
honor of a Turkish lady who had befriended him
when he was a prisoner in her country. Captain
Smith then presented a map of the eastern coast
to Prince Charles. He named this cape of land Cape
Anne after his mother, Anne of Denmark. The name
eventually was changed to Cape "Ann".
In
1623, men from Dorchester, England were sent
to establish a fishing and trade plantation.
That was the first fishing voyage from England
to any port in America. In the same year, Edmond,
Lord Sheffield, assigned a tract of land called
Cape Ann to two men from the Plymouth Colony.
They were poor, however, and one traveled back
to England for needed help. By the time this
gentleman, Edward Winslow, reached England, the
Dorchestermen had already arrived. These Dorchestermen
established the first permanent settlement of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The men anchored
their ship in the harbor and set up fish stages
(fish-drying platforms) on "Fishermens' Field".
This area is now known as Stage Fort Park. In
1624, Plymouth Colony expelled Church of England
clergyman, John Lyford as well as John Oldham
to Nantasket where they joined Roger Conant who
previously had left Plymouth. The Dorchester
Company asked these three to join them and Lyford
and Conant agreed to this. Conant became Governor
of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
In 1625, there was a fight over the fishing
stages. Plymouth men, led by Miles Standish and
Captain William Pierce, tried to take over the
stages. Pierce avoided a battle by abandoning
the stage and building another. In 1626, the
Dorchestermen were recalled to England after
three hard, unsuccessful years. Four of the men
stayed and were led by Roger Conant to Naumkeag,
or what later became Salem and Beverly. There
is conflicting information on whether or not
others stayed in Gloucester. But by 1642, other
settlers had traveled to Gloucester including
the Reverend Richard Blynman from Plymouth with
several families. Gloucester was incorporated
that year and given its name due to the large
number of settlers from Gloucester, England.
Fish houses, wharves and drying racks were built
around the area including ones in Annisquam,
Folly Cove, Hodgkins Cove, Plum Cove and in what
later became Pigeon Cove and Sandy Bay in Rockport.
In the years that followed, other ethnic groups
immigrated to Gloucester to fish. Crews of Irish,
Portuguese, native born Americans, Nova Scotians,
New Foundlanders, Prince Edward Islanders, Italian
and various Scandinavian groups fished together
and together died at sea. Since records have
been kept, over 5,000 Gloucestermen have been
lost at sea trying to earn a living and feed
the world. |
