Gloucester Realty, located on Main Street, celebrated 70 years in Gloucester on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
The company was started by Cecil M. Booker, grandfather of ReNaye Dame, who is President and Head Broker of Gloucester Realty.
Recently Dame was going through some old papers and came across the original incorporation papers dated Oct. 28, 1955.
“He sold a tremendous amount of land, and he financed it for people all the time,” she explained. “He held essentially a note, and they just paid him back every month.”
Real estate back then was a whole different world. “You didn’t have a loan application or anything like that, if somebody wanted a loan from the bank, my granddad would walk them over to the bank and introduce that person to the banker,” she said.
Dame’s grandmother did all of the books, kept meticulous records, and even had an attorney draw up a certificate of satisfaction when someone paid off their loan.
Over the years her grandfather developed quite a few neighborhoods in the co...