Gloucester's waterfront park on the 1623 site of Cape Ann's first English settlement, and the scene of an 1896 newspaper sensation over a 'gliding specter' at the armory window.
24 Hough Avenue, Gloucester, MA 01930
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public park; a seasonal parking fee may apply at the lot during summer months.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Open parkland, two beaches, lawns, and a rocky outcrop ('Tablet Rock'); paved paths and parking near the water.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1635 · Site of the 1623 Dorchester Company landing, first English settlement of Cape Ann · Coastal fortification from 1635 through the Spanish-American War · Now a public waterfront park with a reconstructed fort and the 1623 commemorative Tablet Rock
Stage Fort Park occupies a headland on Gloucester Harbor that holds an outsized place in New England's colonial story. In 1623 fourteen men of the Dorchester Company landed here and tried to establish a fishing-and-farming settlement, the first English attempt on Cape Ann. The venture failed within a few years, and the settlers relocated to found Salem in 1626. A plaque on Tablet Rock in the park commemorates the 1623 landing as the start of Cape Ann's fishing industry.
The park's name comes from the fishing 'stages' built on the shore by those early settlers, platforms used to dry split fish. The point was first fortified in 1635, giving the site its 'fort,' and it was garrisoned intermittently from then through the Spanish-American War as a coastal defense position guarding the harbor.
The earthwork and fort seen today were reconstructed in the 20th century on the long-fortified site. Over time the grounds became a municipal park, and Stage Fort Park now offers two beaches, a playground, ball fields, picnic areas, and a seasonal visitor center alongside its historic features.
In the late 19th century the site also hosted an armory building, which would become the setting for one of Gloucester's best-remembered ghost episodes.
Sources
Stage Fort Park's ghost story belongs to a single well-documented episode in 1896. That year, accounts in the Gloucester press described a figure seen passing back and forth across the windows of the armory at the fort, accompanied by a strange rushing sound. Word spread, a nightly watch was set, and large crowds gathered to see the apparition for themselves.
Contemporary write-ups, preserved in regional ghost-history collections, carried headlines to the effect that the fortress was 'alive with ghosts' and that hundreds turned out to see 'It' appear at the armory window. Witnesses described the figure as a man in his shirtsleeves who would appear at one window, then another, then return, before vanishing when the crowd rushed the building and the lights came up. By some accounts the figure had been seen for more than a month.
No explanation was ever settled on, and the sightings faded as quickly as they had begun. The armory ghost of 1896 survives as a piece of Gloucester newspaper lore attached to a site already steeped in centuries of history. Visitors today come for the harbor and the colonial markers; the ghost is a story from the period press, not a phenomenon reported in the modern park.
Notable Entities
Walk the waterfront park, see the reconstructed fort and the commemorative plaque on Tablet Rock marking the 1623 Dorchester Company landing, and take in the harbor views. Two beaches, a playground, and ball fields share the grounds.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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