Mary Ray with her husband Alan moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts from Maryland about thirty years ago. Before making what they now say is their final move, they lived in various states and as far away as France and Spain. In Gloucester, Mary has earned the titles of Artist, Archivist and now Author.

Their move to Gloucester was very significant as they found the oldest seaport in America to be a very special place. What was in Gloucester that was so appealing to them? The two main attractions, and there are many more, were the residents and the natural beauty of the area.

Gloucester is a wonderful mixture of warm and friendly people including descendants of the original settlers and descendents of later immigrants from the Canadian Maritime Provinces and Europe. More recently visitors from around the globe have been attracted there.

Cape Ann, jutting into the North Atlantic, surrounds Gloucester. Artists have always found the seacoast and the deserted inland areas bathed with very special light. This maritime port with its colorful fishing boats and buildings that date back over three centuries has a special charm to painters. For Mary this has resulted in her designation as a Copley Artist at the Copley Society of Boston. She is also an artist member of the North Shore Arts Association and the Rockport Art Association.

As the Rays were learning about their adopted city, an opportunity arose to discover detailed information about the development of the area. It was in 1987 that Gloucester's Mayor Silva appointed a committee of volunteers to bring order to the massive number of records of the Town and City of Gloucester dating back to 1632. Mary and Alan were among the founding members, and co-chairs of the Archives Committee for fifteen years. Working as archivists under the supervision of Massachusetts Archives and National Archives, they had what they considered the privilege of organizing what may be the largest collection of municipal records in the United States.

Then while inventorying thousands of maps and plans, many dating from the 1800s, it became apparent that a listing of important events and dates, such as construction of buildings, was needed to give approximate dates to undated maps and plans. Mary began the project by reading and re-reading over 85 books that contained Gloucester information. Significant events were recorded on a database on her home computer. As the project grew in size, its information was used almost daily the Archives office. When the importance of the information became apparent to researchers and scholars, Mary began the immense job of writing and publishing the Gloucester, Massachusetts Historical Time-Line~1000-1999.