Home > Gloucester > Jodrey State Fish Pier

Location and Description

The Jodrey State Fish Pier is a large complex of buildings and docking berths located in the heart of Gloucester’s inner harbor. Turning off Main St. onto Parker St. leads directly down to the pier.

 

 

History and Legends

The Jodrey State Fish Pier is the result of Gloucester barber Everett R. Jodrey’s efforts to revitalize the city’s fishing industry during the 1920’s. In 1931, the state legislature appropriated money for building the pier, which finally opened for business in 1938. By the 1950’s, over 300 million pounds of fish came to the fish pier annually.

In 1988, after fifty years of operation, a three year plan to rejuvenate the fish pier began. By this time, the pier had deteriorated badly and there were environmental concerns over waste from fish processing. In 1993, the modernized fish pier opened and offered Gloucester’s fishermen expanded docking and greater flexibility in selling fish and buying fuel and provisions.

The story of how Everett Jodrey realized his idea for a state fish pier in Gloucester is the stuff of legend. In his barber shop on Duncan St., Jodrey sold his regular customers their own shaving mugs. One day he was shaving a skipper and noticed his mug was dusty. It turned out that this skipper, like many others, was bringing his catch into Boston, which had a very busy state fish pier. When Jodrey learned that another pier was planned for Boston, he swung into action, talking up the idea in his barber shop and eventually convincing politicians to construct a state fish pier in Gloucester.

In 1984, after the death of Everett R. Jodrey, and largely through the efforts of his granddaughter, the pier was officially named after “the father of the fish pier.” However, a sign to that effect was not put up until 1992, when, again due to the work of Jodrey’s granddaughter, the final chapter of a Gloucester legend was completed.