This page contains most of the resources you will need to research the history of your house. If you are new to house history research, please visit the Get Started section. For a quick overview of the process visit 10 Steps to Researching the History of Your House. These guides are also great for local historians and genealogists.
Establishment
Gloucester was formed in 1642. It became a city in 1873. The area was originally settled in 1623.
Land Records / Deed Research
Deeds are found at the county level in Massachusetts. Gloucester is in Essex County. Deeds for Gloucester, Massachusetts are available online in two places:
- The Southern Essex District, Massachusetts Registry of Deeds (1640 – present)
- FamilySearch.org (1640-1865) [access with free account]
Images for all Southern Essex District deeds are available online. However, the deeds are only indexed back to January 2, 1951. Older index books are digitized and available under the Index Books tab on the website. You can use this to manually look up book and page numbers. There is no reason to go to this Registry. The deed books have been transferred to the Massachusetts State Archives in Boston (per my conversation with Northern Essex District customer service on 28 October 2025).
[28 October 2025] Note: If you used to go to the Salem Registry of Deed with its comfortable building, large parking lot and beautiful view, I regret to tell you that it is now closed (as of 2024). There is an office listed on the website for Salem but that is just a one-person office. The Southern District Registry has moved to Beverly. And as I mentioned above, the books have been moved to the Massachusetts State Archives. Going forward, the Southern District Registry is completely digital. They are no longer printing deed books.
Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds
100 Cummings Center, Suite 206-C
Beverly, MA 01915
(978) 542-1704
Essex County was formed in 1643.
Census Records (and MA State Census Records)
The most common census records are the US Federal Census Records but Massachusetts also has state census records. Census records help you discover the families that lived in your house. Federal census records are available every 10 years from 1790 to 1950 with the exception of 1890.
U.S Federal Census Records (1790-1950)
Available from:
- Ancestry.com ($) – see if your local library has institutional access free for patrons
- FamilySearch.org (free with account)
- MyHeritage.com ($)
- AmericanAncestors.org ($)
- FindMyPast ($)
Agriculture and Manufacturing Censuses 1850-1880
These were called Federal Census Non-Population Schedules. They provided detailed descriptions of farms and manufacturing businesses. These are available on Ancestry.com ($).
Massachusetts State Census Records (1855 & 1865)
Available from:
- Ancestry.com ($) – 1855 census and 1865 census
- FamilySearch.org (free with account) – 1855 census and 1865 census
- AmericanAncestors.org ($)
Vital Records
Vital records provide the details about births, marriages and deaths for the people who previously lived in your house.
Find Gloucester, MA Vital Records Online:
- Ancestry.com ($)
- FamilySearch.org (free with account) – Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001
- AmericanAncestors.org ($)
- MyHeritage.com
- Book – Vital records of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849 (Internet Archive)
Probate Records
Probate records for the town of Gloucester are found in Essex County, Massachusetts Probate Court records (1643-present) which are available both online and in-person.
If you need a probate file from the in-between years that are not digitized (basically the 1900s), email Essex Probate and they will scan the file and put it online. When searching the Essex Probate Court website for a specific case by file number, put ES before the file number (no space). Ex. ES181883
In-person
Essex County Probate Court
36 Federal St., Salem, MA 01970
(978) 744-1020
Check website for hours
Online
- Search the Massachusetts Probate Courts for online files – https://www.masscourts.org/eservices/
- Ancestry.com ($) – Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991
- AmericanAncestors.org ($) – Essex County, MA: Early Probate Records, 1635-1681 and Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881
- FamilySearch.org (free with account) – Massachusetts, Essex County, probate records and indexes 1638-1916
- FamilySearch.org (free with account) – Massachusetts, Essex County, probate records 1538-1880
Preservation Publications
The Massachusetts Historical Commission provides access to historic building surveys at is website MACRIS: Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS). Once at the site, search specifically by town. You can refine by address and historic name.
Maps
Historic maps of Gloucester:
- 1794 Plan of Gloucester (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1831 Map of Gloucester, Cape Ann by John Mason (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1851 Maps of the Towns of Gloucester and Rockport by Henry Francis Walling (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1854 Gloucester Harbour, Village by John Manning (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1871 Map of Essex County by Walling & Gray (Salem State University)
- 1872 Map of Essex County by Walling & Gray (Salem State University)
- 1872 Gloucester by D.G. Beers & Co. (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1873 City of Gloucester, Mass. by Franklin Lith. (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1884 Atlas of Essex County by Geo. H. Walker & Co. (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1884 Atlas of the city of Gloucester and town of Rockport, Massachusetts by Griffith Morgan Hopkins Jr (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1887 Magnolia, Gloucester, MA by George H. Walker (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1891 City of Gloucester by George H. Walker (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1899 Atlas of Cape Ann, Gloucester, Rockport and Manchester, Essex County, Mass. by Geo. W. Stadly & Co. (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1903 Sanborn Map of Gloucester, MA (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1917 Sanborn Map of Gloucester, MA (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1919 Map of the City of Gloucester, Mass. (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1919 Atlas of the North Shore, Beverly to Magnolia, Essex Co., Massachusetts by Yeager-Klinge Co. (Digital Commonwealth)
Maps are also available online from many website such as:
- Ancestry.com ($)
- Hathi Trust,
- David Rumsey Map Collection,
- Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library
- The Library of Congress
- Digital Commonwealth
City Directories & Residents Lists
City Directories were typically published every year. Because of that they are great for filling in the gaps between the 10 year spread of census records. They are also helpful to identify when people move from place to place.
Gloucester City Directories are available from the Sawyer Free Library on Internet Archive. They cover miscellaneous years from 1860 to 1993. There are 69 volumes online. Here is a page that contains a year by year index.
City Directories are available online at the major database sites like Ancestry.com ($), MyHeritage.com ($) and FamilySearch.org. They are also found in local libraries and archives.
Tax Records
Tax records provide the value of property through the years. These can be a great indicator of when changes were made to a property. Check your local library, Town Hall or Archive.org for Town Annual Reports which contain the tax records.
Newspapers
Cape Ann Newspapers (1827-1998) are available from the Sawyer Free Library.
Gloucester Daily Times (2008-present) is available online from the library for Gloucester residents.
Many old newspapers are available online through Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, AmericanAncestors.org, GenealogyBank.com, Newspapers.com, OldNews.com, the Boston Public Library, the American Antiquarian Society (Worcester, MA), Community History Archives.
Cemetery Information
Gloucester, Massachusetts cemeteries:
- Bayview Cemetery (founded in 1728)
- Beechbrook Cemetery
- Bray Cemetery
- Calvary Cemetery
- Cherry Hill Cemetery
- Clarks Cemetery
- Cove Hill Cemetery (founded in 1729)
- Dolliver Memorial Cemetery
- First Parish Burial Ground (founded in 1640)
- Gloucester Fishermen’s Memorial
- Hammond Castle Museum
- Langsford Cemetery
- Locust Grove Cemetery
- Magnolia Cemetery
- Mount Adnah Cemetery
- Mount Jacob Cemetery
- Mount Pleasant Cemetery
- Oak Grove Cemetery
- Oak Hill Cemetery
- Park Street Cemetery
- Proctor Family Cemetery
- Prospect Street Cemetery (founded in 1737)
- Seaside Cemetery
- Second Parish Cemetery
- Sumner Street Cemetery
- Universalist Burial Ground
- Washington Cemetery
- Wesleyan Cemetery
Cemetery Information
- FindaGrave.com – Gloucester, MA
- Gloucester, MA – Cemetery List
- Gloucester, MA – Cemetery Information (links to photos and more details)
Local Resources
- Cape Ann Museum
- Gloucester, MA Historical Commission
- Gloucester Historic Houses (from website 17th & 18th Century Houses of Essex County, MA)
- Sawyer Free Library
- Gloucester Yearbook Collection – 94 volumes from 1901 to 2013 (Internet Archive)
- Oral History Collection (Internet Archive)
- Cape Ann History and Digital Collections
- Gloucester Postcard Collection
- Gloucester Map Collection
- Historic Ipswich: Stories from Gloucester and Rockport
- Gloucester, MA Archives Research Guides – Contains a lot of valuable information
- Gloucester Reconnaissance Survey Town Report by the Mass. Historical Commission
- History of Gloucester Firefighters
- Antiques Houses of Gloucester and Beyond by Prudence Paine Fish (Blog)
- YouTube Video – Gloucester’s Historic Waterfront by the Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum
Resources for Deeper Research
- JSTOR – Massachusetts residents can use this database of academic articles by obtaining a free Boston Public Library eCard
- Massachusetts Historical Society
- American Antiquarian Society
- Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
Further Reading
Belknap, Henry Wyckoff. Artists and craftsmen of Essex County, Massachusetts. Salem, MA: The Essex Institute, 1927. Available at HathiTrust: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89046885174
Dresser, Thomas. Dogtown: A Village Lost in Time.
Fish, Prudence Paine. Antique Houses of Gloucester: The Families Who Built Them, The Men Who Moved Them, and the Changing Face of the Harbor Village. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2007.
Fish, Prudence Paine. If Antique Houses Could Talk: Tales of Old Gloucester Houses. 2022
Garland, E.E. Gloucester on the Wind: America’s Greatest Fishing Port in the Days of Sail. (Images of America Series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 1995.
Garland, Joseph E. The Gloucester Guide: A Stroll Through Place and Time. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2004.
Hurd, D. Hamilton, History of Essex County, Massachusetts: with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men. Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1888. Available at Internet Archive:
- Volume 1 – https://archive.org/details/historyofessexco01hurd1/page/n3/mode/2up
- Volume 2 – https://archive.org/details/historyofessexco02hurd/page/n5/mode/2up
- Volume 3 – https://archive.org/details/historyofessexco03hurd/page/n5/mode/2up
Johnson, Natalie. Rocking the Boat: Italian Immigration in a New England Fishing Town. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 2005.
Lowell, Laura Scott and Jim Lowell. Legacy: Shipbuilders, Fishermen and the Age of the Gloucester Schooners (DVD). Rockport, MA: Yesterday’s News, 2000.
McRae, Ryan A. Gloucester and Cape Ann (Postcard History Series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2024.
Nason, Rev. Elias. A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts. Boston: B. Russell, 1890. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/gazetteerofstate00naso/page/n5/mode/2up
Pringle, James R. History of the Town and City of Gloucester, Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Gloucester, MA: By the author, 1892. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/historyoftowncit00priniala/page/n17/mode/2up
Ramos, Lisa Peek. Magnolia: A Brief History. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2008.
The Gloucester Fire Department: Its history and work from 1793 to 1893. Gloucester, MA: Steam Fire Association, 1892. Available on Internet Archive –
https://archive.org/details/gloucesterfired00assogoog/page/n8/mode/2up
Wright, John Hardy. Gloucester and Rockport (Images of America Series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
