On March 31, 1906, the people of Cape Ann were stunned by the news that Gorton’s would merge with three other Gloucester fish companies.

The new company became the largest fishing business on the Atlantic Coast, occupying 15 wharves in Gloucester. Over 1,000 fishermen manned 55 vessels; another 1,000 men and women worked on shore salting, drying, boning, cutting, grinding, smoking, and packaging millions of pound of fish. Gorton’s today is one of the largest seafood suppliers in the world. Read the full story at Glocal Access | How Mussolini nearly killed the Gorton’s fisherman.