Word for word what students read, with the sources we checked them against.
1643 · 1950
Water All Around
You are standing on a bridge high over the Annisquam River. Look down. Water runs from here all the way around to the harbor. It has since 1643, when the Cut was dug. So people in Gloucester say they live on “the Island.” A real island has water on every side. This one is close enough! Two bridges connect it to the rest of Massachusetts. This big arch opened in 1950. The other one, the drawbridge at the Cut, lifts up for boats. Count the cars. Every one of them is crossing water.
Sources: obs.com · en.wikipedia.org · timeline.sawyerfreelibrary.org · hmdb.org · waymarking.com
1606–1616
Three Names for One Cape
This land had a name long before English ships came. Then explorers came and gave it new ones. Explorers are people who sail to find new places. In 1606 a French sailor, Samuel de Champlain, sailed into this harbor. He drew a map of it and called it Le Beau Port. That means the beautiful harbor. In 1614 an English captain, John Smith, called the cape Tragabigzanda. That was the name of a woman who was kind to him when he was locked up far away. In 1616 a young English prince, Charles, changed it again. He named it Cape Ann, after his mother. That name stuck.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · gloucester-ma.gov · capeannhistory.org · newenglandhistoricalsociety.com · smithsonianmag.com · collections.leventhalmap.org
every summer
Whales!
Boats leave this wharf and head out to sea for about an hour. They go to Stellwagen Bank, a shallow place in the ocean where whales come to eat. Humpback whales! Fin whales! Long ago, people hunted whales. Whale fat, called blubber, was boiled into oil for lamps. A few Gloucester ships hunted whales too, but not many. This town caught cod. Today the boats go out to watch whales, not catch them. Bring a jacket. It is cold out there.
Sources: 7seaswhalewatch.com · nps.gov · research.mysticseaport.org
