File:In and around Cape Ann- a hand-book of Gloucester, Mass., and its immediate vicinity. For the wheelman tourist and the summer visitor (1885) (14581019077).jpg

Identifier: inaroundcapeannh02webb (find matches)
Title: In and around Cape Ann: a hand-book of Gloucester, Mass., and its immediate vicinity. For the wheelman tourist and the summer visitor
Year: 1885 (1880s)
Authors: Webber, John S
Subjects: Cycling -- Massachusetts Gloucester (Mass.) -- Guidebooks Ann, Cape (Mass.) -- Guidebooks
Publisher: Gloucester, Mass., Printed at the Cape Ann Advertiser office
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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e beachitself; this road is sand covered to the depth of several inches,and will have to be walked by the wheelman visitor. Once at the beach, the picture is surveyed admiringly. Be-fore you, if the tide is out, is a vast, almost level tract of thepurest white, extending for nearly a couple of miles in length,with a width varying from a hundred feet at the narrow end toover six hundred feet at its widest point—a surface of sand firmand unyielding, that sparkles brightly under the slanting raysof a burning sun ; a single object only on the white-topped planeto mar its beauty—that of the unsightly timbers of the old hulkat the far western end. To the left, as one stands facing theopen sea, is noticed the high sand-covered hills, that remindthe sight-seer of the snow-clad summits of the far East, andwhich give to the picture a most decided wintry aspect. On theright you see the Squam settlement, seemingly but a few rodsdistant, while the lighthouse in that vicinity can hardly be rec-
Text Appearing After Image:
IN AND AROUND CAPE ANN 69 ognized, it seems so dwarfed and far away; beyond, you catcha glimpse of the steeples of the Bay View settlement and alsoof the stone sloops at the quarry piers. Fronting us is the everrestless surface of the mighty sea—you have an uninterruptedview of the entire Ipswich bay from this point, and the eye caneasily follow along the coast of Newburyport and Portsmouth tothe highlands of the far away Maine shores ; on a clear day, andwith a good glass, you can see easily the mountain Agamenticus,while the Isles of Shoals can be brought almost to your very feet. The section known as Coffins Beach Farm was first settledupon by one Peter Coffin in the year 1688. In extCHt the terri-tory comprises nearly 500 acres, and at one time was the mostvaluable piece of farm land within the towns limits. Highlycultivated lands and wood covered hills gave to the region anespecial importance in days long since gone by; now one looksin vain for the slightest trace of the once l

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