Walking Along Gloucester Harbor in Gloucester, Massachusetts

Welcome to Gloucester

Today we will walk 

along its harbor.

Eric parks our Jeep west of the harbor.  We will be walking along Stacey Boulevard Park into the city proper.

This long, narrow park has

flower beds & American

flags along its railing.

Forty years ago, this was an open green space.

The stairway down to the

western most end of the

beach.

Sand gives way to pebbles

with edges worn smooth

by the tides.

I am grateful for the long lens on my Sony Camera.

Ten Pound Island Lighthouse is

across the harbor from where

I am standing.

A Summer Day Care Class

is walking to a lunch time

spot in the park.

I spot a small cruise ship

in the eastern end of

the harbor.

This is my favorite garden 

shot of the harbor.

Eric & I stop at the

Fishermen's Wives

Memorial.

Commercial Fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States.  Gloucester has been sending men, to sea to earn a living since the early 1600s.  This memorial is for the women and children whose husbands and fathers did not return.

Large homes across
from Stacey Park

The Old Tarr & Wonson Paint

Factory has been renovated &

now houses Ocean Alliance.

The old factory houses the company's offices, a robotics lab, a green chemistry lab, a community center, and a marine mammal and ocean research library.  I am delighted to learn that this well known and much painted landmark has a new mission.

Blynman Bridge is opening
to allow traffic through the
Blynman Canal to
Ipswich Bay.

 

Boats leave the canal....

.... as boats in the harbor
wait to enter the canal.

The wake of this boat shows that

the pilot needs to accelerate

to move faster than the

outgoing tide. 

The bascule bridge closes.

The bridge is specially weighted
to allow for easy opening &
closing.





The fishing boats with sports fishermen left early in the morning for full and half day fishing trips.  Eric and I went out with Yankee Fleet many years ago....

A small, private boat with low

clearance maneuvers the chanel

 beneath the closed bridge.

Our walk along the
harbor continues.

A Gloucester Harbor

Tour Boat glides by.

I realize that I am not seeing large fishing boats in the harbor.  The Commercial Fishing Industry in this region of the country has been in steep decline since fish stocks on the Georges Bank have declined throughout the later half of 20th century.  Increasing numbers of fishing boats and innovations in fishing technology all but stripped the fertile fishing ground of its harvest.  Recent newspaper articles confirm the hollowing out Commercial Fishing with reports of just 170,000 pounds of Cod caught in 2016.

Eric & I stayed at Harborview
Inn during several of our
visits to Gloucester.

The Fishermen's Memorial,

erected in 1923 - 1925, is a

tribute to the 10,000 Gloucester

fisherman who lost their lives

at sea.

Eric looks out at the harbor as

the curve of the harbor extends

east toward Rocky Neck.

Homes give way to businesses

as we approach the end of

Stacey Park.

The last of the American flags

at the park fly above the beach

at the foot of The Tavern on 
the Harbor & Beauport Hotel.

The Tavern on the Harbor is a mainstay of Gloucester's shoreline.  Opened in 2016, the Beauport Hotel replaces a large Birdseye Flash Freezing Warehouse that saw decreasing business as Commercial Fishing declined precipitously from the 1980s on.

A Schooner, with extended

sails, tours the harbor.

Gloucester Harbor continues to be a favorite Cape Ann attraction for Eric and me.  Throughout the years, Stacey Park and the waterfront views have changed.  As the Commercial Fishing Industry declines, we see more privately owned pleasure boats, harbor tour boats and a small cruise ship exploring the harbor.  Large buildings that supported Gloucester's Commercial Fishing are disappearing as the Tourist Industry grows along this beautiful shoreline.