CAM Green Campus

13 Poplar Street
Gloucester, MA 01930

The CAM Green is open seasonally Friday – Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. beginning July 10, 2026.

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About the Campus Hours & Admission Directions & Parking Accessibility & Guidelines Tours & Historic Properties

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Updated Hours

The CAM Green is open Friday – Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. beginning July 10, 2026.

About the Campus

The CAM Green, the Museum’s campus off Grant Circle and Route 128 in Gloucester, is designed to dramatically expand the Museum’s community, contemporary art, and educational offerings. The almost four-acre campus is home to the Janet & William Ellery James Center, three historic structures: the White-Ellery House (1710), the Babson-Alling House (c. 1740), an adjacent Barn (c. 1740), as well as a Contemporary Art Wetu (2023-2024) and a Mush8n (mi-shoon) (2023), an eastern woodlands boat.

The 12,000 square foot Janet & William Ellery James Center, completed in 2020, includes 2,000 square feet of flexible exhibition and community programming space designed to reach broader audiences with new exhibits and public programs. The James Center addresses the Museum’s critical need for expanded collections and archival storage. Built to LEED Platinum standards, the James Center was designed by Boston-based designLAB and integral to the building’s environmental footprint is the installation of a 173KW Solar 2 Array system on the building’s roof.

Ample green space has been reserved at the site including sitting walls, lawns, and a pathway linking all buildings. New indigenous plantings have been made and an outdoor sculpture park is also envisaged in the years to come.

Image Credits:
CAM Green with the Janet and William Ellery James Center in View, photos by Steve Rosenthal.

Updated Hours

The CAM Green is open Friday – Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. beginning July 10, 2026.

General Admission

Free Admission:
General admission to the CAM Green is free. Please check in with Visitor Services at the Janet & William Ellery James Center upon arrival.

Parking:
Parking is available at the CAM Green on a first come, first served basis.

There are two handicap marked spots directly in front of the Janet & William Ellery James Center. The spots are available on a first come, first served basis.

Programs & Events:
Some events require registration and may have a fee attached. Please see the Events Calendar for more information regarding the program of interest. Docent led tours of the White-Ellery House are available once a day on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. First Come First Served

Public Transportation

The MBTA commuter rail connects Cape Ann directly with the greater Boston area and beyond. From Boston’s North Station, take the Newburyport/Rockport line to the Gloucester stop. The CAM Green Campus is about a 25 minute walk from the train stop.

You can also reach the CAM Green using Cape Ann Transportation Authority (CATA). For direct drop off information, visit CATA On Demand.

Directions

The CAM Green Campus is located at 13 Poplar Street in Gloucester.

From 128 North, enter Grant Circle and take the third exit onto Washington Street. Take the first right onto Poplar Street. The main driveway is after the second building on the right at 13 Poplar Street.

From the Downtown Campus, take Pleasant Street towards Prospect Street. Take a left on Prospect Street and right on Maplewood Avenue. Continue down Maplewood Avenue and proceed under 128 to a 90-degree turn. Follow it onto Poplar Street. The CAM Green is near the end of Poplar Street and the main driveway is on the left.

Parking

Parking is available at the CAM Green on a first come, first served basis.

Handicap Parking

There are two handicap marked spots directly in front of the Janet & William Ellery James Center. The spots are available on a first come, first served basis.

Bus Parking

Buses please park along the back of the parking lot.

Campus Map

Accessibility

The Janet & William Ellery James Center is fully ADA compliant. There are three handicap marked spots directly in front of the James Center. The spots are available on a first come, first served basis. There are bathrooms with diaper changing tables. Gallery stools are also available for on a first come, first served basis.

Programs held at the Carlson Education Center occur on the 1^st floor, which is fully ADA compliant. There is a wheelchair accessible ramp attached to the side of the building.

The historic homes are not ADA compliant due to the nature of historic properties.

Amenities

Lost & Found is located at the desk in the James Center. We will make every attempt to contact the owner if identification can be found on the item. We will not hold unclaimed items beyond two weeks. For inquiries, please call 978-283-0455 x110.

Campus Guidelines

Food and drink are not allowed in the gallery or historic houses. Eating on the campus grounds is permitted with a carry-in carry-out policy.

No alcoholic consumption on the property.

Service dogs are welcome. Emotional Support Animals or Comfort Animals are often used as part of a medical treatment plan as therapy animals and are not considered service animals under the ADA.

Smoking and vaping are prohibited on the premises.

Cell Phones, Cameras, and Electronic Media

We ask all visitors to put cell phones on vibrate and refrain from talking on the phone in the gallery or historic houses. Unless otherwise noted, non-flash photography is permitted for private, non-commercial use.

Photographs taken in an exhibition at CAM Green cannot be published, sold, reproduced, transferred, distributed, or used for other commercial purposes without museum permission.

Use of tripods, video cameras, and other film equipment requires prior approval. Please email Sheila Hruby for permission.

Book a Tour

Docent-led White-Ellery House Tours are available during the Summer.

A White-Ellery House Docent led tour is offered Sunday’s at 2:00 p.m.

Historic Properties

The CAM Green owns and maintains three unique historic structures: The White-Ellery House (1710), the Babson-Alling House (c. 1740), and an early New England barn (c. 1740). Together these buildings provide visitors with unique and thought-provoking points of entry into the social and economic history of this region over the past 400 years; they form part of the and are integral to the Museum’s new contemporary art initiatives.

Stabilization work on each of the Museum’s historic structures was supported by the City of Gloucester’s Community Preservation Act Grant Program.

Overview

White-Ellery House (c. 1710)

The White-Ellery House, staff photo.

The White-Ellery House, built c. 1710, has been owned by the Museum since 1947 and is one of just a handful of early eighteenth century structures in the region exhibiting much of its original interior detailing. This “saltbox” house features an integral lean-to roof that spans the length of the structure.

During the CAM Green’s open hours, visitors are welcome to walk around the grounds of the house. While the inside of the house is normally closed to visitors, visitors are able to tour the inside the house through docent-led White-Ellery House Tours. The White-Ellery house is available for free tours Sunday’s at 2:00 p.m. during the open season.

History

The White-Ellery House, 1886. Photograph by Benham. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives, Gloucester, MA. [Acc. #1994.8.7].

The White-Ellery House is located at 245 Washington Street in Gloucester at the CAM Green. The House has been owned by the Museum since 1947 and is one of just a handful of early eighteenth-century structures in the region exhibiting much of its original interior detailing. The White-Ellery is commonly known as a “saltbox” and features an integral lean-to roof that spans the length of the structure. The massive central chimney that once serviced six fireplaces remains intact, as do several examples of early plasterwork, some of which exhibit decorative painting. Architectural historian Abbott Lowell Cummings cited the White-Ellery House numerous times in his book The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625–1725, calling out, among other features, the front staircase, which he noted as being perhaps the most highly developed of the period in Eastern Massachusetts.

The White-Ellery House was used first as a parsonage for the Reverend John White. Between 1740 and 1947, it was occupied by six generations of the Ellery family; early on the house was used as a tavern and sometimes as the meeting place for town officials. Prior to the American Revolution, the neighborhood surrounding the White-Ellery House was the Town Green, center of the community and home to the wealthiest families. History tells us that there were few families of wealth on Cape Ann during this early period who did not keep slaves or who did not profit as a result of slavery, and the early Ellery generation and their neighbors were no exception.

In 1947, the White-Ellery House was lifted off its original foundation and moved approximately 100 yards to make way for Route 128. The Cape Ann Museum maintains the structure as a study house and for educational and contemporary art programming.

Accessibility

The White-Ellery House, staff photo.

The White-Ellery House is situated on the CAM Green, near the Janet & William Ellery James Center. In addition to providing the Museum with space for future growth of the collection and space for expanded programming and exhibitions, the James Center provides essential support to all the historic structures at the Green in the form of fully accessible restrooms, vehicular parking, and a visitor orientation space which includes internet services and A/V capabilities. Though the James Center and the historic structures at the Green are linked by ADA approved gravel walkways, the historic buildings retain their original structures and are accessed via stepped entrances with narrow doorways, uneven floor surfaces and low light levels inside.

Video Tour

Overview

Babson-Alling House (c. 1740)

Babson-Alling House,Cape Ann Museum
Gloucester MA

The Babson-Alling House, Steve Rosenthal.

The Babson-Alling House was acquired by the Museum in 2019, having been in private ownership since its construction around 1740. While just 50 years separate the house from the nearby White-Ellery House, the Babson-Alling House exhibits a sense of refinement within its rooms that is absent in the earlier structure.

During the CAM Green’s open hours, visitors are welcome to walk around the grounds of the house; however, the inside of the house is closed to visitors.

History

The Babson-Alling House, 1882. Photograph by Corliss & Ryan. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives, Gloucester, MA.

The Babson-Alling House was acquired by the Cape Ann Museum in 2019, having been in private ownership since its construction around 1740. While just 50 years separate the house from the nearby White-Ellery House, the Babson-Alling House exhibits a sense of refinement within its rooms that is absent in the earlier structure. Writing in the Pencil Points architectural monograph series in October 1934, Stuart Bartlett heralded the Babson-Alling House for having “one of the most beautiful all-paneled rooms in the State (and one of the two still remaining upon Cape Ann!) with a most interesting staircase.” With its distinctive gambrel-roof and yellow clapboard-clad exterior, the Babson-Alling House has long been a landmark for those entering Gloucester and Cape Ann.

The Babson-Alling House was first owned by the Allen family and during the early 1800s came into the ownership of the Babson family. Early members of the Babson family were engaged in mercantile pursuits. However, by the mid-19th century they were making their living as farmers, maintaining gardens in front of their home and grazing and haying fields behind it. By the end of the Civil War, several members of the family left Cape Ann, headed for California and the promise of new opportunities. Among them were Maria Babson and her sister Emma (Babson) Friend who had grown up in the Babson-Alling House. When they left Gloucester around 1864 they took with them oil paintings done by Fitz Henry Lane capturing their family homestead on canvas.

The Babson-Alling House sits on its original foundation facing to the south; the gardens which once graced the front yard were ploughed under when Route 128 was constructed.

Accessibility

Fitz Henry Lane, View of the Babson and Ellery Houses, Gloucester, 1863. Oil on canvas. Gift of Roger W. Babson, 1937. [Acc. #779.02]

The Babson-Alling House is situated on the CAM Green, near the Janet & William Ellery James Center. In addition to providing the Museum with space for future growth of the collection and space for expanded programming and exhibitions, the James Center provides essential support to all the historic structures at the Green in the form of fully accessible restrooms, vehicular parking, and a visitor orientation space which includes internet services and A/V capabilities. Though the James Center and the historic structures at the Green are linked by ADA approved gravel walkways, the historic buildings retain their original structures and are accessed via stepped entrances with narrow doorways, uneven floor surfaces and low light levels inside.

Video Tour

Overview

Early New England Barn (c. 1740)

Early New England Barn, staff photo.

This three-bay barn, built c. 1740, sits on its original foundation. Its frame is made of wood that was readily available in the area during colonial times: hemlock, oak and eastern white pine. The frame was joined using techniques brought over from England by early settlers.

During the CAM Green’s open hours, visitors are welcome to walk around the grounds of the barn; however, the inside of the barn is closed to visitors.

History

Back of Early New England Barn, staff photo.

Located between the White-Ellery House and the Babson-Alling House, the third historic structure owned by the Cape Ann Museum is a 3-bay barn. Like the Babson-Alling House, the structure sits on its original foundation. Its frame is made of wood that was readily available in the area during Colonial times: hemlock, oak and eastern white pine. The frame was joined using techniques brought over from England by early settlers.

Over the decades the barn has served many purposes including the storage of firewood and hay. Ownership of the structure ran with the Babson-Alling property from c. 1740 through the mid-20th century. Given the amount of development and change that has taken place in the neighborhood surrounding it, the barn is a remarkable survivor.

Stabilization of the barn was undertaken in 2018 with the support of the City of Gloucester’s Community Preservation Act grant program.

Accessibility

Historic properties at CAM Green, staff photo.

The Early New England Barn is situated on the CAM Green, near the Janet & William Ellery James Center. In addition to providing the Museum with space for future growth of the collection and space for expanded programming and exhibitions, the James Center provides essential support to all the historic structures at the Green in the form of fully accessible restrooms, vehicular parking, and a visitor orientation space which includes internet services and A/V capabilities. Though the James Center and the historic structures at the Green are linked by ADA approved gravel walkways, the historic buildings retain their original structures and are accessed via stepped entrances with narrow doorways, uneven floor surfaces and low light levels inside.