Special Resource Study: Gloucester, Massachusetts

National Park Service - North Atlantic Regional Office

The North Atlantic Regional Office of the National Park Service (NPS) conducted this Special 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 for the preservation and interpretation of Gloucester's fisheries heritage, those material and nonmaterial 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 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 modernization, 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 reliance on the sea. 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, 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 at risk in Gloucester. Gloucester Harbor possesses national significance as a true and accurate example of an evolving American fishing port. 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 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 at risk as the 20th century draws to a close. The pride, resourcefulness, and self determination that sustained more than 300 years of fishing 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 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 the will to do an outstanding job. However, outside technical assistance may be crucial to the success of local heritage efforts. The balance of this report is devoted to an assessment of the history and resources associated 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.

Special Resource Study: Gloucester, Massachusetts

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