Leaving from Gloucester in mid-June in a small dory he named Centennial, Johnson landed in Liverpool, England, in late August, the trip totaling 66 days. In his book Cape Ann: Cape America (1971), Herbert A. Kenny devoted a chapter to Gloucester’s “Lone Voyagers” and to "Centennial Johnson," as Alfred Johnson came to be known.

The Banks dory, or Grand Banks dory, is a type of dory. They were used as traditional fishing boats from the 1850s on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. [1] The Banks dory is a small, open, narrow, flat-bottomed and slab-sided boat with a particularly narrow transom.

Cape Ann Museum is an art and historical museum located in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Its collection and programming focuses on the artists and art colonies of Cape Ann, including the Rocky Neck Art Colony and the Folly Cove Designers.

May 28, 2009 · In 1876, Danish immigrant and fisherman Alfred Johnson sailed a customized twenty foot Cape Ann Dory from Gloucester, Massachusetts to Liverpool in 66 days, proving the design built for fishing the rough Atlantic Ocean could handle nearly any weather.

Jun 1, 2023 · The fisherman nicknamed Centennial was an unlikely hero whose dory and story carry a Gloucester shine worthy of remembering in the city’s 400th year. Capt. Alfred “Centennial” Johnson, born in […]

The Cape Ann Museum's Fisheries and Maritime collection reflects Cape Ann's preeminence in seafaring pursuits. Boat-building enthusiasts and historians will be particularly well-rewarded: the Museum's collection includes three intact historic vessels and detailed 19th century ship models.

Mid-way through his journey, Johnson’s dory capsized in a storm. Miraculously, he was able to right it after clinging to the overturned vessel for 20 minutes. He arrived in Liverpool, England, on August 21, 1876.

This model represents a small rowing boat known as a New England sailing dory. During the nineteenth century, these dories were used in the fisheries near Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Dories were also carried nested on the decks of fishing vessels, especially schooners in the later nineteenth century.

Art is the re-creation of mood in line, form, and color. When Hayley Lever arrived on Cape Ann, he found the picturesque harbors and deep nautical traditions familiar to the ancient fishing ports of St. Ives, England and Brittany, France where he had painted and studied extensively.

CAPE ANN COLLECTORS, 474 Washington Street, Gloucester, celebrates early summer with our new show, “The Dory as Muse: Ethos and Essence,” opening Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19, 2 – 6 p.m. and running through June.