Catalog entry

Commentary

Coffin’s Beach is located at the westernmost end of Wingaersheek Beach in Gloucester’s West Parish, and it takes its name from Peter Coffin. In 1688, Coffin and his family acquired and settled a tract of land approximately five hundred acres in size that ran between the Annisquam and Chebacco Rivers. The tip of the land at the mouth of the Chebacco River has long been known as Two Penny Loaf. In 1747, the property descended to Coffin’s grandson, also named Peter. Around the time of the American Revolution, the younger Coffin moved to Gloucester’s Harbor Village, where he became a “prominent and useful citizen.” (1)

During Fitz Henry Lane’s lifetime, Coffin’s and Wingaersheek Beaches and their uplands were still largely undeveloped. In the decades following the Civil War, pressure intensified in the area as ambitious plans for residential developments were put forth.

This painting is presumed to have been owned at one time by David W. Low (1833–1919), the father of Frederic F. Low (1872–1957), who bequeathed the work to the Cape Ann Museum. David Low and Amanda F. Friend were married in 1862. By the mid-1870s, they lived at Fernwood in West Gloucester, not far from Wingaersheek and Coffin’s Beaches.

 – Martha Oaks

Reference:

1. John James Babson, History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Ann (Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1972), 69.