Literature Trail

Dana Story
A historian and author, no one captured Essex's shipbuilding heritage like Dana Story (1919-2005). Descended from an old Essex shipbuilding family and a shipbuilder himself, Story devoted his life to telling and preserving the stories of "life, toil, and lore" in Essex shipyards, and to "shed light on the ever-vanishing art of shipbuilding" that made Essex unrivaled in the world.

His books include Growing up in a Shipyard: Reminiscences of a Shipbuilding Life in Essex, Massachusetts (1991), and Frame Up! A Story of Essex, its Shipyards and its People (reissued 2004), He also contributed significantly to the collection of the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, which established a special fund in his honor upon his death.

Essex Shipbuilding Museum
Address: 66 Main Street (Rte. 133), Essex
Phone: 978-768-7541
Website: www.essexshipbuildingmuseum.org
Hours: Open year-round; call for hours
Admission: Adults $7; children under 6 free

T.O.H.P. Burnham Free Library
Address: Martin Street, Essex
Phone: 978-768-7410
Website: www.essexma.com/library/
(The library contains books by Story.)