Dogtown Common

Dogtown Common was originally settled inland in 1693, where it was sheltered from the sea — and pirates — by forest.¹ At its peak, the settlement contained an estimated eighty homes. It was opened for individual ownership in the early eighteenth century, removing the common pastureland, which was formerly used for sheep and cattle grazing. Ultimately, the settlement was abandoned in the early nineteenth century as the Gloucester fishing industry took off and roads were built throughout Cape Ann’s inlands.

Over time, the New England forest overtook the cleared land. Today, Dogtown is part of the Essex National Heritage Area. It includes 3,600 acres of trails and abandoned roads as well as three dozen boulders that Finnish quarry workers carved with inspirational phrases during the Great Depression.²

The Dogtown Common ecosystem includes sensitive vernal pools, glacial hills, sphagnum bogs, and glacial ponds. The majority of the forest is second growth, including deciduous and conifer species on former pasture lands. The trees are stunted by cooler summer temperatures produced by the surrounding ocean. The wetlands provide ecosystem services by storing water, and are a core habitat for many different species.³

Due to rising temperatures, Dogtown is increasingly at risk for brush fires. It is also home to a vulnerable homeless population.^{4 5} In the near future, much of Dogtown’s flora and fauna — such as white pine (Pinus strobus) and red maple (Acer rubrum) — will be subject to stress from higher temperatures.

In the event of a major storm, flooding from Babson Reservoir will wash out the commuter rail bed and fire roads that serve Dogtown.⁶ Conifers, particularly white pines, are more vulnerable than hardwoods. Larger, older trees, including those in designated sensitive areas, will uproot first, and younger trees will snap.

A westward-tracking hurricane would be particularly damaging because the trees in Dogtown Common are rooted to withstand regular nor’easters, not winds from the south. After a single tall tree falls, the surrounding trees will be toppled.⁷ Additionally, sea spray will salinate woodlands and croplands within twenty miles of the coast, significantly altering the ecosystem and stressing the unique ecosystem assemblages within the area.