Carolyn Thompson

Cape Ann in Stereo Views Carolyn Thompson

The years that followed the bloody Great War, which divided the nation, up through the start of the twentieth century were a remarkable era of growth and prosperity for the towns and villages of Cape Ann. Swift-sailing schooners manned by hardy and able seamen from the fisheries of Gloucester ranged far out into the Atlantic. Millions of tons of granite laboriously cut from the bountiful quarries of Rockport were shipped to ports near and far. Essex shipyards, fueled by the demands of the Gloucester fisheries and the Rockport granite industries, turned out new and larger ships in even greater numbers. Tourism became a major industry, as dozens of the famous and grand North shore hotels were erected along the shores of Gloucester, Rockport, Magnolia, and Manchester-by-the-Sea. Coincidentally, the years from 1865 to the early twentieth century were a time when stereo photography and stereoscopic images, especially stereoview cards, enjoyed immense popularity. Cape Ann was fortunate to have several outstanding stereo photographers and publishers during this grand era, and they produced many excellent views of the Cape's natural wonders, its commercial activities, and the life and times of its industrious townspeople.