For 83 years, the Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial has towered over the city’s main boulevard. Fishermen and their families consider it a holy place, and the bronze statue – which depicts a fisherman holding a boat’s wheel out at sea – is a magnet for tourists and locals. Even Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes shed tears when he saw the memorial, and its inscription inspired by the 107th Psalm, "They that go down to the sea in ships."
Massachusetts residents also feel the memorial has deep meaning. Last month, citizens voted overwhelmingly online to recommend a depiction of the memorial be minted on the back of a US quarter. The memorial – known by locals as the Man at the Wheel – received more than 100,000 votes, and bested sites such as the Lowell National Historic Park, the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, and the USS Constitution.
"This is an honor and to all of the fishermen," said Grace Favazza. Favazza’s brother, Vito Misuraca, was lost at sea on Sept. 8, 1978. Favazza frequently spends time at the memorial and considers it a sacred area.