About The Oldest Seaport In America
Before Boston and Salem, there was Gloucester
A seaport is a port that's built on the sea. It's a point of entry for ships bringing passengers or freight into a city. Seaports can have one or more wharves where ships can dock to load and discharge cargo and passengers.
Gloucester, MA is one of the oldest fishing communities in the United States. In fact, it is the oldest seaport in America. Gloucester is described by the U.S. Department National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration as America's oldest seaport. The Advisory Council On Historic Preservation (ACHP) recognizes Gloucester as America’s oldest seaport. The United States Department Of Agriculture defines the port of Gloucester as the oldest in the country.
Before European settlers arrived, the area that would become Gloucester, located on Cape Ann, was home to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Agawam, part of the Pawtucket group, lived in the region, utilizing the abundant marine resources of the North Atlantic.
Before Boston and Salem, there was Gloucester. Gloucester’s European history begins in 1623 when the Dorchester Company, a group of English merchants, established a fishing outpost on Cape Ann. Gloucester has been serving the world as a harvester of quality seafood a destination community ever since.
Gloucester Harbor was first visited and mapped by Samuel de Champlain in 1605–06, and the site (at Stage Fort Park) was settled by colonists from Dorchester, England, in 1623. By 1626, the outpost was abandoned, and many settlers relocated to Naumkeag (modern-day Salem), where the land was more fertile. This early failure highlights the disconnect between European expectations and the realities of the New England environment—a theme that would recur in Gloucester’s history.
Named for Gloucester, England, and incorporated as a town in 1642, it eventually flourished as a maritime and fishing center since that time. Its fishermen sailed from the Capes of Virginia to Greenland and Iceland.
The Fisherman’s Memorial, a bronze statue facing the harbor, honors those lost at sea (said to total more than 10,000). Since the late 19th century, the traditional Yankee fishermen have been reinforced by Portuguese and Italian immigrants.
The Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center features the oldest continuously operating marine railway in the country, as well as a 19th century mill building and a former ice house. The center provides insight into the relationship between the city’s maritime industrial history and the health of the New England fisheries.
Gloucester’s maritime heritage inspired many books, including Rudyard Kipling’s "Captains Courageous" (1897) and James B. Connolly’s "Gloucestermen" (1930). Norman’s Woe, an area just off Cape Ann, was the setting of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Wreck of the Hesperus”. Gloucester was also immortalized in the movie "The Perfect Storm".
The city’s maritime heritage is also preserved through institutions like Maritime Gloucester, which combines a museum, aquarium, and educational programs, and the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center, home to the restored 1926 schooner Adventure. Events like the 250th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Bunker Hill, scheduled for June 21–22, 2025, at Stage Fort Park, highlight Gloucester’s commitment to its historical legacy.
At least in theory, the earliest settlers were fisherman however, so Gloucester can lay claim to being America’s oldest seaport. Modern Gloucester has three lighthouses, with three more in Rockport, once part of Gloucester.
The city’s heritage resources are featured in a Maritime History of Massachusetts National Register Travel Itinerary (Gloucester and Rockport have 10 of the 22 featured sites in Essex County) and in the Essex National Heritage Area Maritime Guide.
Gloucester today is a place where history and modernity coexist. Its working waterfront, cultural attractions, and natural beauty continue to draw visitors, while its residents grapple with the challenges of preserving tradition in a changing world. From its Indigenous roots to its colonial struggles and maritime heyday, Gloucester’s story is one of resilience, adaptation, and an enduring connection to the sea.
*Note: America has the largest number of seaports in the world with 587 ports.