Motif No.1 is the Star of the Show Yet Again...

Photo Credit: Kate Glass/Gloucester Daily Times

Read on for an excerpt from a story by Jonathan L'Ecuyer in the Gloucester Times about Motif No.1 or click here to read the full story.

ROCKPORT — Known to students of art and art history as one of the most painted and photographed landmarks in New England, the iconic, dark red fish shack overlooking Rockport Harbor from the tip of Bradley Wharf is about to get even greater international exposure.

Motif No. 1, Rockport's trademark structure, will be featured on "Where in the World," a new, Web-based National Geographic series that aims to spotlight some "lesser known" places in the world and "show what makes them special to the tourists that visit, and more importantly," producers say, "to the people who live there."

Set to share the spotlight with Motif No. 1 in the special feature are the town's scenic beauty, colorful history and proud residents.

"It's not widely known, but to the people who have been there, it is a lasting memory," said National Geographic Television associate producer Jason Kurtis, whose two-man crew filmed the Motif and several other Rockport landmarks over two days in mid-November. "Yet, it is the people of Rockport that make the town what it is; from my experience there, it is a town of people full of pride in what they do and in the town they live in and have grown up in."

During his stay at the Emerson Inn by the Sea, Kurtis interviewed several local historians, including Les Bartlett, Buddy Woods and Paul St. Germain. The president of the Thacher Island Association, St. Germain gave Kurtis a tour of the town, which included a visit to the quarries at Halibut Point State Park and a stop on Eden Road for a perfect view of Thacher Island's iconic twin lighthouses.

"They loved the quarry and they wanted to go out to the island," St. Germain said.

In the time Kurtis and his crew were in town, they filmed Motif No. 1, the Rockport Art Association, the quarry at Halibut Point, the former Cape Ann Tool Co. building and various street scenes in the downtown area.