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Special Resource Study Gloucester, Massachusetts 11 II PlEASE RETURN 10: 1: TECHNICAL INFORMA'I/ON ~ei'JTER DENVER SERVICE CENTER NATIONAL PARt< SERVICF. I -- d £' 11' ) ~,, --::~~~ 1/tl/lt .;,,-:,·l~'f ¥ g 9 9 I -- - ... ____ .. - ---- I ----- ----------- _... ---- ---- ------------- I I' I It II I I I i 5 5 I SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY I Gloucester, Massachusetts I I September 1994 I I; I I - ~--- Prepared by Division of Planning I' North Atlantic Regional Office National Park Service, Boston, Massachusetts I 'I I Table of Contents 'I 1/ STUDY SUMMARY 1 I BACKGROUND Study Purpose 3 (I Background & Issues 3 Methodology . 6 Special Planning Initiatives 7 Harvard Studio 7 I Multi-Property National Register 8 Harbor Lecture Series 8 Harbor Land Use and Economics Study 9 I SITE DESCRIPTION I Regional and Cultural Geography 11 Topographic History . 12 A Fisheries Heritage District 15 I District Boundaries . 15 I STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Historic Context I North Atlantic Fisheries 17 Gloucester Fisheries. 18 Cultural Resources 21 I' Evaluation Criteria 24 I SUITABILITY Introduction 29 Comparative Analysis of Other Sites 29 II Thematic Structure 34 Interpretive Themes . 37 Interpretive Strategies 40 I FEASIBILITY I Introduction 45 Public Interest & Support 45 Site Size, Configuration, and Administration 46 I Acquisition and Development 47 I I' I I Access & Circulation 48 Vehicular Access 49 Parkmg 50 I Public Transportation 50 Ferry Service . 51 Bicycle Routes 52 I Pedestrian Routes 52 Threats to the Resource 54 I HERITAGE MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES Introduction . 57 I A Fisheries Heritage Coalition 58 Coalition Building Tasks 59 Goals and Initiatives . 61 I Regional Heritage Area Concept 64 I Environmental Assessment . 64 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Gloucester Waterfront Lecture Series 65 I Appendix 2: Subthemes: Coastal Quarrying & American Landscape and Marine Painting . 69 Appendix 3: Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic- Field Report . 73 I Appendix 4: Harvard Graduate School of Design Studio 79 Appendix 5: Harbor Land Use and Economics Study (separate volume) 100 Appendix 6: Federal Legislation authorizing a Special Resource Study 100 I Appendix 7: Bibliography . 101 Appendix 8: National Maritime Heritage Act of 1994 103 I Appendix 9: Study Team Members & Contributors 104 MAPS I I Location map . 2 Gloucester and Vicinity 2 Gloucester's Inner Harbor 2 I Historic Shoreline Change in the Inner Harbor 12 Gloucester in 1917 compared with 1990 14 Fisheries Heritage District . 16 ,I Alternative Trail Routes 44 ,I Harvard Studio Project Sites 98 PHOTOGRAPHS The historic photographs reproduced on section dividers are from the I Gordon Thomas collection at the Cape Ann Historical Association. Cover: Gloucester Harbor, 1904. Frontispiece: John Mason Map of 1831, (detail) I 'I' I. I I I I I I I. I I' I I\ I I I I I I I I~ I I' I I. Study Summary I" I 1: .. 1: I I .. li I' I I I I I I 'I ·I I I I I I ,I I. I. I I I' 1/ I STUDY SUMMARY The North Atlantic Regional Office of the National Park Service (NPS) conducted this Special I Resource Study to assess the national significance of resources associated with the history of commercial fishing in Gloucester, Mass., and to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing a unit of the National Park System in Gloucester. The study suggests local strategies I for the preservation and interpretation of Gloucester's fisheries heritage, those material and non­ material resources that reflect the city's fishing history. The resources range from surviving vessels and pier structures to fishing skills, marine paintings, and community customs. The Special Resource Study found Gloucester Harbor to be an outstanding example of an ' American fishing port, one that vividly tells the story of America's oldest industry--commercial I fishing. The harbor offers superlative opportunities to discover and to teach the history of an industry, its people, and the nation's use of an important natural resource, fish. While much of the historic fabric from the period of peak significance has been lost to 20th-century I' modernization, as one would expect in any industrial landscape, ample documentation remains to illustrate this history. Furthermore, the traditional activity of fishing that has survived in Gloucester Harbor for over three and a half centuries continues to demonstrate the city's age-old I reliance on the sea. I~ Due to the steady depletion of fish stocks in recent decades and the resulting decline of the fishing industry, the remaining evidence of Gloucester's 19th and early 20th century fisheries may be gone by the beginning of the 21st century. Both the material resources--vessels, gear, I sites, and structures--and the non-material resources--community customs, traditional skills, and the pursuit of fishing as a way of life--are very much a~ risk in Gloucester. Gloucester Harbor possesses national significance as a true and accurate example of an evolving I American fishing port. Porbably no other port is so cloely identified with commercial fishing as Gloucester. There appear to be no other ports in the United States that do an adequate job of preserving and interpreting the heritage of commercial fishing. The story of the American I fishing industry is an important and compelling one that should be shared with the broadest possible audience. The cultural resources that represent this story in Gloucester are increasingly I at risk as the 20th century draws to a close. The pride, resourcefulness, and self determination that sustained more than 300 years of fishing II is still alive in Gloucester today. Gloucester citizens are justifiably protective of their livelihoods and their way of life. Because of the perceived impact of a National Park Service presence on the character of the community, and of tourism-related development on fishing operations in the I harbor, the establishment of a traditional national park unit in Gloucester is considered unfeasible ,, at this time. A careful strategy to preserve and interpret Gloucester's fisheries heritage should be initiated and controlled by the community itself. The Gloucester community has the talent, the energy, and I the will to do an outstanding job. However, outside technical assistance may be crucial to the I 1 I' ~ success of local heritage efforts. Technical assistance might potentially be provided through I various means, including the Essex Heritage Project, a heritage-area concept that is currently under consideration for the county in which Gloucester is located and the National Maritime Heritage Act of 1994 which provides funding for education and preservation activities (see I· Appendix 8). The balance of this report is devoted to an assessment of the history and resources associated I with the fishing industry in Gloucester Harbor, as well as a description of local initiatives that could help preserve and interpret these resources for future generations. I I I I ·I, I· I I I ,,I Location Map I I 2 .,I I < I \ r-·· Gloucester and Vicinity I Gloucester's Inner Harbor EAST UCESTER t~· II ,I. II II. Background 1\ I: I' II I 11 I I, I'.:..... I .I ·I ·I. I_ I I I I .a· I I I I I I I) '1. I I I. BACKGROUND I· Study Purpose Recognizing that an important piece of American heritage--in fact, a way of life--was at risk, I· the United States Congress in 1992 authorized the National Park Service to undertake a Special Resource Study (SRS) to assess the cultural resources of Gloucester, and to suggest ways in which these resources might be protected by local, state, and federal management efforts. In I response to Public law 102-154 (1992 Interior Appropriations Act) the Division of Planning of the North Atlantic Regional Office of the National Park Service, together with its community I partners, conducted a Special Resource Study and produced this report summarizing the results. The planning process was intended to provide the community with valuable information about I' its maritime resources and to identify local management strategies and initiatives that could help to preserve and interpret those resources for the benefit of future generations. Another important objective was to provide to Congress information for consideration in deciding whether I the National Park Service should be involved in the ongoing protection and management of Gloucester's historic maritime resources. A Memorandum of Understanding broadly outlining these elements was signed in September 1992 by representatives of the City of Gloucester, the J, Cape Ann Maritime Alliance, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the National Park Service, North Atlantic Regional Office. Thirteen 1:, members of the Gloucester community formed a core study group to advise the National Park Service and have worked diligently to ensure the usefulness I and accuracy of this study. Their input and energy has been extremely helpful throughout this process. (Appendix 9 lists the primary contributors to this I. study.) I. Background and issues Gloucester, Mass., is known to many Americans as I the historic home of the New England fisheries. The "Man-at-the-Wheel," the statue of a Gloucester fisherman facing out to sea, is a symbol recognized I throughout the country and its location is the first stop for most visitors. Gloucester's deep-water harbor, ringed by piers and framed by densely I settled hills, has protected the fishing fleet for over three and a half centuries, and is the epitome of the I. New England fishing port. 3 I~ I I Located some 30 miles from Boston, the center of the New England fish market, and a day's I sail from George's Bank, one of the most productive fishing grounds in the world, Gloucester was well positioned from the outset to supply the needs of a growing nation.

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