Fish Flake Hill Historic District (Boundary Increase)

Fish Flake Hill is a dense waterfront neighborhood in southern Beverly, Massachusetts, covering about 35 acres and 152 properties along a ridge above the harbor. Most buildings are wood-framed houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, with a smaller number of commercial and industrial structures. The district grew from an original five-acre core of merchant and sea captain residences on Front Street to include Bartlett, Cabot, Union and Stone Streets. Its houses cover Colonial, Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate and Second Empire styles, from the ca. 1723 Gage House to the brick Bennett House of 1808 and modest workers' cottages. The area matters because it traces Beverly's shift from a fishing and shipping center to an industrial port. Railroad arrival, coal and oil wharves, and rubber factories changed the waterfront, and wealthier families moved away while laborers, including newcomers from the Canadian maritimes and Italy, took their place. Most properties keep their original plan, materials and detailing.