Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA (Annisquam)
1895 - Gloucester

Gloucester, a city and port of entry of Essex co., Mass., 28 miles N.N. E. of Boston, is situated on the S. side of the peninsula of Cape Ann, and is connected by rail road with the principal cities and towns of the seaboard and interior. It is beautifully situated and handsomely and compactly built. It contains 20 churches (1 Episcopal, 4 Congregational, 2 Baptist, 4 Methodist, 1 Unitarian, 3 Roman Catholic, and 5 Universalist), 4 banks, a savings-bank, 3 insurance offices, and gas- and electric light companies. Three newspapers (two daily and one weekly) are published here. The interests of Gloucester are almost entirely commercial. It has a greater amount of tonnage in the domestic fisheries than any other town in the United States, amounting to some 35,000 tons, the number of vessels being over 400, and the "catch" amounting in some seasons to 10,000,000 pounds. The number of men employed in the cod- and mackerel-fisheries is about 5000. There are about 40 firms engaged in fitting out vessels. Of the ports of Massachusetts, only Boston, it is said, surpasses Gloucester in foreign imports, which are limited to salt for use in the fisheries from Liverpool and Cadiz, and coals, wood, and lumber from the British Provinces. The only other important industries are a large granite-trade, the ledges of the town furnishing much valuable material for building-purposes, and the building of schooners for the fishing- and coasting-trade. The harbor of Gloucester is one of the best on the coast, and is accessible at all seasons for vessels of the largest class. Gloucester was occupied as a fishing-station as early as 1624, being the first settlement made on the N. shore of Massachusetts Bay. It was incorporated as a town in 1642, and became a city in 1874. Pop. in 1850, 7786; in 1860, 10,904; in 1880, 19,329; in 1890, 24,657.

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

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