Once the popular summer retreat of "American Royalty,” today Magnolia is enjoying a resurgence. This charming oceanfront village has a remarkable stretch of rocky coastline interspersed with crescent-shaped sandy beaches with views that extend from Gloucester Harbor to the Boston skyline.

Magnolia Point juts into the Atlantic and is surrounded by breaking waves amidst the scent of fresh ocean air. According to local lore, the name of the village came from the indigenous wild swamp magnolias thought to grow only on this promontory overlooking Kettle Cove. The site gained literary fame in Longfellow’s 1842 poem, “The Wreck of the Hesperus” which occurred at the treacherous rocks at nearby Norman’s Woe.

Beginning in the late 1800's, the success of the Crescent Beach Hotel was followed by the fashionable Hesperus House. By 1908, the Oceanside with 600 rooms was reputed to be the largest and classiest summer hotel in New England, attracting dignitaries including Major Douglas MacArthur (visiting his aunts), Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and Mrs. J. P. Morgan. Vacationing John Philip Sousa was known to lead the 20-piece orchestra when it played atop the carriage porch (porte cochere).

The literati came, too. Edward Everett Hale, James Freeman Clarke, and Louise May Alcott stayed at Willow Cottage, a converted farmhouse. On the advice of his friend William Ralph Emerson, William Morris Hunt “discovered” Magnolia, then bought an old barn from Barnard Stanwood and converted it into a studio dubbed “The Hulk.”

Cafes and private summer “cottages” lined the village streets. Exclusive New York shops such as Grande Maison de Blanc, Bonwit Teller, DePinna, and Mme. Mogabhab on “Robbers Row” offered the fashion conscious trousseaus, linen, jewelry, antiques, and furs. Henry J. Heinz and his peers built mansions along the shore. Many of these seaside homes have been restored and for the past 15 years, the Hesperus Avenue area of Magnolia has been experiencing a renewed vitality.