"Whale's Jaw, Dogtown,'' from the archives of the Cape Ann Museum, in Gloucester.

Dogtown is an abandoned inland settlement on Cape Ann. Once known as the Common Settlement and populated by respectable citizens, the area later known as Dogtown is divided between Gloucester and Rockport. It's in an area not well suited to agriculture, because of poor and very rocky soil. It's not all that great for building either. You need a lot of dynamite.

The boulders above, of course, came from what is now Canada in the last Ice Age.

The look of such landscapes is chilling, even in summer. The whaling reference is to be expected in coastal New England.