Friends of Dogtown

What is Dogtown?

Dogtown is an unique place – once inhabited, then abandoned, a boulder-strewn landscape of wetland, woodland, and moors, overlain with stonewalls, cellar holes, and old roads dating back to colonial times. It is a place of inspiration, contemplation, and recreation. After its forests were harvested by the early settlers, pastures and farms served Cape Ann for almost two hundred years. As field and pasture reverted back to brush and woods, the transitional landscape inspired a generation of poets and painters such as Charles Olson, Marsden Hartley, and John Sloan. Charles Mann, Percy Mackaye and others wrote about the people – the last generation to inhabit Dogtown. Roger Babson mapped what remained of the old settlement, and later himself become a part of the history of Dogtown – the Babson Reservoir, boulders, and cellar holes.

 

 

Dogtown As A Municipal Property

Unmanaged, the mystery and romance of Dogtown had become a problematic reality by the mid 1980’s – illegal dumping, civil disturbances, and a general state of lawlessness prevailed. In 1984 representatives of the Essex County Greenbelt Association, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and the City of Gloucester organized the Dogtown Steering Committee to deal with two key problems facing Dogtown: the threat of development, and land management. In the following year the City took critically situated land by eminent domain. A number of public safety actions were taken by the police department and DPW as well. The Dogtown Advisory Committee was established as an interim organization in 1985, staffed by volunteers appointed by the mayor and tasked with implementing the other recommendations of the steering committee including clean-up activities, trail maintenance, installation of trail markers, and the creation of a map.