[1] Dogtown was first settled in 1693, and according to legend the name of the settlement came from dogs that women kept while their husbands were fighting in the American Revolution.

[4] Various factors led to the demise of Dogtown which included a revived fishing industry from Gloucester Harbor after the American Revolution had ended.

[3] New coastal roads were built that also contributed to the Dogtown's demise as they ran past the town to Gloucester which at the time was booming.

Most of the farmers in the town moved away by the end of the War of 1812 [citation needed] as Dogtown had become a risk for coastal bombardment.

The last resident of Dogtown was a freedman named Cornelius "Black Neil" Finson, who was found in 1830 with his feet frozen living in a cellar-hole.

[6][7] The current state of Dogtown affords rich recreation opportunities to hikers and bikers, dog-walkers, nature lovers, cross-country skiers, geologists and historians.

The area is peppered with house-sized boulders, including one named "The Whale's Jaw," which it resembled before collapsing after a picnic campfire got out of control in 1989.