Cape Ann Museum: Worth more than one visit.

Joey posted about the Cape Ann Museum months ago and I thought I would take the family. Turns out this past Saturday was family day and so the visit was free. Normally $8 for an adult I think I am going to pay the $50 for a family membership next time I stop in because I found it to be a place I need to check out more than once. A few shots from my iPhone:

Do you know Harriet?

Daughters of a local artist, Harriet is the one on the left. Are they still in town?

Next time you go swimming at Steel Derrick or any quarry, think about what is under the water:

This is a big photo of Steel Derrick as a working quarry. Next time you’re stuck in traffic think about getting home from the bottom of this pit when the whistle blew. Lilja might be in that photo and when he heard the whistle blow it was off to Pigeon Cove to cut some more rock for extra cash.

This painting is familiar to all:

Did you ever wonder how Joan of Arc got up there? I knew Alpheus Hyatt had lived in Annisquam at 704 Washington Street. He was the founder of the Marine Biological Laboratories in Woods Hole where I grew up so when I saw that Anna Hyatt Huntington sculpted Joan of Arc the connection was made. She made a lot of very large statues sprinkled around Washington DC and New York but she did not have to travel far for this one.

Then there are all sorts of tidbits of info on the walls next to the paintings of all the local artists. Sam Hershey was a big part of the Rockport Art Association but did you know he helped organize wild annual parties at the RAA? They had to call in the State Police in 1937 and from then on they were small private affairs only. To the 1938 small gathering he wore a tombstone costume, “RIP Annual Ball, dead at 18.” (There were 18 big ripping parties before the wet blankets won). It was the same year they banned naked swimming at the quarries. Boo.

So go. Even if you were born at Addison Gilbert Hospital and the last time you went to the Cape Ann Museum was on a 4th grade field trip. You’ll find a few things out about fishing, art, granite, that you didn’t know. And you also might find that the people who populate Cape Ann haven’t changed all that much and that’s a good thing.

Shoot, I didn’t even get to Howard Blackburn. His boat is in there.

Cape Ann Museum
Guided tours are offered Thursday through Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
and on Sunday at 2:00 p.m., included with the price of admission to the Museum.
27 Pleasant Street Click address for map, right behind City Hall.

This just in: Every Saturday 10AM to 5PM is Family Free Day. So go for an hour then walk down to the Lonesome Lone Gull for a Coffee Latte to fuel up for another hour.