Gloucester Historical Commission

CITY OF GLOUCESTER

Gloucester Historical Commission

MEETING AGENDA

September 28, 2026, at 6:30 – 8:30 PM Rose Baker Senior Center, 2nd floor conference room 6 Manuel F. Lewis Street, Gloucester, MA 01930

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Posted: 2026 SEP 11 PM 12:05

ADMINISTRATION

• Approval of August 31, 2026 Meeting Minutes

DEMOLITION DELAY ORDINANCE

• Need/create description for website (see Mendon Demo Delay bylaw)
• Tim – creating list of historical contractors, to be posted to Google Docs under Demo-delay

HISTORIC HOUSE PLAQUES (Susan)

Currently 73 on Interactive map - Applications voted for 8/31/26, plaque orders may be underway: - 5 Wiley St (East Gloucester Yacht Club, 1901-1918) - 28 Friend St (Eben Brown, Master Mariner, R1851) - 11 Pirates Lane/ NSAA (Est. 1922) - 34-36 Summer St (Unitarian Parsonage, 1917-1939) - 1206 Washington St (Moses Parsons, Yeoman,1834) - Possible new applicant up for a VOTE?: 150 Leonard St, Annisquam - 9/3/26: Julie & Susan redesigned plaque application to remove homeowner from DIY research - Ralph revised website plaque application page to reflect new online and paper versions

2026 MACRIS UPDATES (Julie)

• Recent work/submissions

TERCENTENARY MARKERS (Tim)

• QR code project, Tim to work with high school students on QR code for marker posts and affixing the signs to the posts.

2027 PRESERVATION AWARDS (Bob and Ralph)

• Bob - report on current list of nominees
• Ralph – book at CAM? date? time?
• Need to book 1623 Studios for filming
• 9/8/26 RNAC volunteered to publicize call for nominees, and the event, in its newsletter, reach of 2,800

CPC UPDATE (Maggie)

• Brief status of the 10 applicants requesting historic funding
• Susan created requested letter of historical significance for Burnham Railways 9/1/26
• Report on whether a National Register Survey qualifies for CPC funding (Lanesville)

REGISTER OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS (Susan/Julie)

• Central database for the city of all historic buildings
• 1900 and 1920 year of build was arbitrarily assigned, these are being newly researched + corrected
• Russell & Melissa Hobbs - 126 Lanesville houses built 1900 per city
• Stephanie Buck – 3,230 Gloucester houses built before 1900 per city
• Benefit of making corrections: expands Demo-delay list; corrects Tax assessment records + MACRIS
• 9/10/26 Julie & Rich met to determine parameters of an Omeka database (https://omeka.org/)

ROCKY NECK CULTURAL CENTER – Historic Art Trail (Susan)

https://www.rockyneckartcolony.org/historic-art-trail - Online self-guided walking tour of 15 historic sites; provides in-depth history and photos of each site - 9/8/26 RNAC volunteered to let GHC add additional historic sites to their website/tour - We could start with buildings on Rocky Neck with new historic plaques as we have the research - Many others: Marine Railways, Paint Factory, Giles Chapel, Salted Cod Building, The Rudder, etc. - This research can double as entries on our REGISTER of Historic Buildings

PRESERVATION RESTRICTIONS APPLICANTS, Historic New England (Susan):

• Inquiry to Dylan Peacock at Historic New England: said our new Preservation Restriction designations (i.e. Riggs House) will appear on MACRIS through MHC, we don't have to follow-up on it
• No further info on the following two PR Applicants: 1. WILLIAM HASKELL HOUSE INQUIRY First period, 1680, 11 Lincoln St; Susan had 8/27/26 conference call with owner Richard Samuelson, converting property to a family trust; applying for Preservation Restriction 2. TUCKER House -HAYDEN Cottage First period, c1720; MACRIS GLO.443, 64R Eastern Point Blvd Pursuing a Preservation Easement with Historic New England; GHC notified by David Rosen (per 9/1/26 email to Susan) whose firm, LandVest will represent buyer/Grantor when it is sold

LANESVILLE/Lane's Cove NATIONAL REGISTRY DISTRICT APPLICATION (Ralph)

• Focus is on a smaller area of Lanesville center, which includes Lane's Cove, the Fish Shack, cemetery and a few smaller buildings surrounding that area that are publicly owned; if privately owned, Ralph will speak with directly.
• The fish shacks, seawall, and cemetery would qualify for grants to repair them if NR was passed.
• Ralph ltr 8/20/26 to MHC seeking approval for nomination; Ben Haley/Nat Reg Dir-MHC replied 8/24/26
• Ralph is seeking funding based on Wendy's estimate of $7,000 for smaller-area project

LANES COVE PLAQUE (Ralph)

• Update
• 8/31/26 Letter by Susan to Ralph stating historical significance

CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENT STATUS (Susan)

• 9/5/26 + 9/11/26 Susan emailed Michael Steinitz, State Historic Preservation Officer inquiring about our 2023, 2024, 2025 annual reports in arrears

Calendar

• Update on Sept 11-13 Bayliss ACROPOLIS weekend program

Next Meeting: MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2026 Rose Baker Senior Center, 2nd Floor conference room, 6:30 – 8:30 pm