- This article is about the town of Rockport. Additional demographic detail about the central settlement or village
within Rockport, which is a census-designated place, is available in the article
Rockport (CDP), Massachusetts. The details it provides for the village are
included in the aggregate numbers reported here.
Rockport is a town in Essex
County, Massachusetts, USA. The
population was 7,767 at the 2000 census. Rockport is located approximately 35 miles northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula. It is directly east of Gloucester, Massachusetts
and surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean.
History
Before the coming of the English explorers and colonists, Cape Ann was home to a number of Native American villages, inhabited by members of the Agawam tribe. Samuel de Champlain named the peninsula "Cap Aux
Isles" in 1605, and his expedition may have landed there briefly. By the time the first
Europeans founded a permanent settlement at Gloucester in 1623,
most of the Agawams had been killed by diseases caught from early contacts with Europeans.
The area that is now Rockport was simply an uninhabited part of Gloucester for more than 100 years, and was primarily used as
a source of timber -- especially pine for shipbuilding. The area around Cape Ann was also one of
the best fishing grounds in New
England, in 1743 a dock was built at Rockport harbor on Sandy Bay and was used for both
timber and fishing. By the beginning of the 19th century, the first granite quarries were developed, and by the 1830s, Rockport granite was being shipped to cities and towns throughout the East Coast of the United States.
Rockport had consisted primarily of large estates, summer homes, and a small fishing village
while Gloucester was becoming increasingly urbanized. Rockport was set off as a separate town in 1840 as its residents desired a separate enclave with an identity of its own. As the demand for its high-grade
granite grew during the Industrial Revolution, the quarries of Rockport became a
major source of the stone. A distinctive form of sloop was even developed to transport the granite
to parts far and wide until the second decade of the 20th century. For many years, there
were a large number of residents of Scandinavian descent, dating from the days when
Finns and Swedes with stoneworking expertise made up a large
part of the workforce at the quarries.
Although the demand for granite decreased with the increasing use of concrete in
construction during the Great Depression, Rockport still thrived
as an artists colony -- which began years earlier due to its rocky, boulder-strewn ocean beaches, its quaint fishing shacks, a
harbor filled with small, colorful fishing boats, and the fact that Cape Ann was made famous by Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous. A red fishing shack on Bradey Wharf in Rockport, known as
'Motif Number 1', has for years been one of the most famous sites on Cape Ann, at first
as the subject of hundreds of paintings, then as it became well known, as a site to be photographed and visited by tourists from
all over the world in itself. Rockport is also the home of the Rockport Art Association.
'Motif Number 1' in Rockport harbor
In 1933, the Rockport American Legion Post. No. 98 built a 27’ scale model of ‘Motif No.1’ for the Legion Parade, which was
held in Chicago, Illinois, site of the 1933 World’s Fair. Designed by Aldro Hibbard &
Anthony Thieme, with participation by the RAA, Board of Trade and townspeople ‘from high
to low’, the float was commissioned in June, completed by the end of September, and driven in daylight only, from Rockport to
Chicago, in less than a week. On October 3, 1933, among 200 floats, it won first place in the historic float competition . Upon
the float’s return to Rockport a crowd of over 4,000 people lined up & down the Great Hill (5 corners) to welcome the float
home.
The revolt against rum
In 1856 a gang of 200 women lead by Hannah Jumper swept through the town and destroyed anything containing alcohol in what is
called "Rockport's revolt against rum" and banned alcohol from the town. Except for a period in the 1930s the town has remained
one of 15 Massachusetts dry towns. Since then alcoholic beverages could not be purchased in Rockport, but on
April 20 2005 the town ballot passed a home rule petition to
allow the sale of alcohol by restaurants.
Today Rockport is primarily a suburban residential and tourist town, but it is still home to a number of lobster fishermen and artists. Its rocky beaches and seaside parks are a favorite place for visitors to
walk and contemplate the power and grandeur of the Atlantic Ocean.
Bus transit throughout the area is provided by the Cape Ann Transportation
Authority.
Geography
Rockport is located at 42°39′20″N, 70°37′15″W, elevation 23.46m
(77 ft.) 1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 45.5 km² (17.6 mi²). 18.3 km² (7.1 mi²) of it is land and 27.2 km²
(10.5 mi²) of it (59.84%) is water.
Demographics
Rockport inner harbour showing lobster fleet and Motif 1
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,767 people, 3,490 households, and 2,027 families
residing in the town. The population density was 424.2/km² (1,098.9/mi²). There were
4,202 housing units at an average density of 229.5 persons/km² (594.5 persons/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.73%
White, 0.27% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.03% Pacific
Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. 1.07% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
The ancestral breakdown of the residents is as follows: English (23.0%), Irish (20.4%), Italian (15.8%), German (7.1%),
Scots (5.7%). The percentage of residents born outside of the United States is 6.3% (3.7% in
Europe, 1.1% elsewhere in North America, 1.0% in
Asia).
There were 3,490 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.0% were married couples living together, 7.6% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 41.9% were
non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the town the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 29.6% from
45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 85.3 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $50,661, and the median income for a family was $69,263. Males had a median
income of $46,131 versus $36,458 for females. The per capita income for the town was
$29,294. 3.7% of the population and 2.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 3.0%
are under the age of 18 and 3.5% are 65 or older. The median house value in the town is $277,300.
Points of interest
- Halibut Point State Park
- Thacher Island
- Bearskin Neck
Notable residents
- Paula Cole (b. 1968), singer/songwriter
- Otis Cook (1900-1980), painter
- Halim El-Dabh (b. 1921), Egyptian-born composer
- Ina Hahn, dancer, choreographer
- Jeremiah V. Murphy (b.1920), journalist
- David Robinson, drummer for The Cars and
the Modern Lovers
- Julian Soshnick Civil Rights Lawyer.
- Andrew Stanton (b. 1965), writer/director for Pixar
- William Lester Stevens (1888-1969), Boston School landscape painter and teacher
- David Wittkower (b. 1960), documentary filmmaker
- Nelson Bragg (b. 1961), percussionist/vocalist for Brian Wilson Band.
References
External links
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