PawCRYPTID BOARDDocument the weird. Investigate the unknown.New

Water Monster · Gloucester, Massachusetts · 1817

MA-1817ID case-0398fe8539Added to map Oct 11, 2026
Creature
Water Monster
When
Aug 14, 1817to the day
Where
Gloucester, Massachusettsto town level
Reports
1 document1 independent

The account

On August 14, 1817, a sea serpent approached a boat within thirty feet, was shot at, and then sank and reappeared on the opposite side.

See the source ↓ one document so far, so there is no trail to follow yet

We map claims, not creatures: this is what the sources say, not proof. How a case is built

Details

Creature
Water Monster
Where
Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States
mapped to town level · from the report's own words
When
Aug 14, 1817
Account
Not first-hand (retold or reported by someone else)
Backed by
1 independent source
Added to map
Oct 11, 2026
Case id
case-0398fe8539

Place lookups use data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via Nominatim. All credits

Source trail (1)

Every link goes to where we found the account. The earliest we found is marked; it is the earliest found, not necessarily the original.

  1. Image 2 of Carson daily appeal (Carson City, Nev.), September 22, 1875
    Newspaper · 1875-09-22
    Earliest found, not necessarily the original.

Request a correction or removal of this case

Further reading

Books that mention this place

A match on the place name, not necessarily this case. Once you have borrowed a book, its link opens the search inside it on the place.

  • Abominable Science!, Daniel Loxton and Donald Prothero (2013)
    Skeptical history of the Yeti, Nessie and others.
    Borrow on Internet Archive
  • The Great New England Sea Serpent, J. P. O'Neill (1999)
    Account of the 1817 Gloucester sightings and later reports.
    Borrow on Internet Archive

More on this creature

Books we have not reproduced: borrow them free at archive.org. Listing a book is not an endorsement of its claims.

Discussion (0)

No comments on this case yet.

Sign in to comment.