Category Archives: Civics

About the city of Newburyport, MA, the people who live here, and the actions and the events that effect their lives.

Working with GridPlay Designs to Create the New Website History~Newburyport

The home page of History ~ Newburyport. Both the beige and the dark teal color are from the 1851 map.

At the beginning of the pandemic I decided to create a new website that co-ordinated with the interactive history map, Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive. I hired GridPlay Designs, and they did a gorgeous job in creating History ~ Newburyport.

It was a collaborative effort right from the start, I wasn’t even sure what the domain name should be, it is HistoryNewburyport.com, and it was so reassuring to have someone to think through that very basic and critical component.

An example of the slide show that GridPlay Designs incorporated, postcards from Atkinson Common.

I gave them a section of the Newburyport 1851 map and a piece of the 1771 survey for Frog Pond, and told them I wanted it to be both historic and modern, I had no clue what it should look like. And they came up with this beautiful logo and design. They pulled the colors from the 1851 map and figured out how to use some of the calligraphy from the 1771 survey. I thought it was so elegant that I wasn’t sure I was worthy of the design.

I love the way GridPlay Designs incorporated the sage color in the 1851 map in the design of every page.

They are very patient with me, I don’t process things in a linear fashion, but process things the way I would create a painting (I am a professional artist). It has been an ongoing collaborative achievement that has been both exciting and fun. We work together on every page, I provide the content and they create the page. I am always amazed at what they come up with. And if I think something needs to be tweaked, they are so patient and responsive, and things get thought through and updated immediately. It is rare, almost unheard, of to get such customer service.

An example of the slide show that GridPlay Designs incorporated, old photographs of Unicorn Street.

We are still working on History ~ Newburyport and together we help it evolve. And the fact that together we were able to create a website, with 24 stories, full of content and historic photographs in two months, is remarkable. The website has been described as “beautiful,” “exciting,” “artistic,” and it would not have been any of those things without GridPlay Designs.

The home page of GridPlay Designs

“We are passionate about working with entrepreneurs and small businesses that embody our values of honesty, integrity, kindness, creativity, and hard work.” ~ GridPlay Designs

History ~ Newburyport, a new website about Newburyport’s stories

History ~ Newburyport, a new Website about Newburyport’s stories

Ever since I started the interactive history map I’ve been thinking of doing this – creating a website that coordinates with the map. The pandemic has provided an opportunity to do that.

As I’ve been creating the interactive map, one story appears over and over again – Newburyport has been hugely successful and then faced crisis, often devastation and has always shown incredible resiliency, fortitude and the result has always been renewal. And as we are in the midst of this global pandemic, I thought it might be good story to emphasize.

I hired a professional web designer and graphic designer to do the website, GridPlay Designs. I think they did a gorgeous job. We are launching the site, HistoryNewburyport.com, Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive with nine stories, but that’s just the start, there are so many stories to tell, and if you look at the interactive map, you will see, there are lots and lots and lots of stories.

Each page has a story, some are brief, some are longer. There are wonderful old photographs and maps, just like the interactive story map, and often a page also has a jigsaw puzzle about the story.

The website would not be possible without the incredibly generous help and use of the collection of both of the Museum of Old Newbury and the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center.

Puzzles During a Stressful Time from the Newburyport Interactive History Map map.historynewburyport.com

Around the end of the third week of March I made my first puzzle for map.historynewburyport.com. I started using online puzzles years ago, there is something about “putting the pieces together” that I find very calming. I thought maybe I could try an image from a story on the Newburyport interactive history map, so I did. I asked the Newburyport History Buffs, a Facebook group, to try it out and let me know if it worked, it did, and then I shared it with some other Facebook groups and people seemed to like it.

I’ve been trying to create a new puzzle every day, and here is a sample of some of the ones that I’ve created https://www.jigsawplanet.com/MaryBakerEaton

The Clam Shacks at Joppa

During the 1700s, 1800s and the beginning of the 20th century, clamming was a huge part of the South End neighborhood called Joppa. With the arrival of trucking and the automobile, clams gained wide popularity and the clammers of the area were able to make a significant amount of money.

There were at least a dozen clam shanties along Water Street where residents shipped as many as five tons of shucked clams from Newburyport to Boston, New York and other cities every day. The pollutions of the Merrimack river by the 1920s lead to the closing of the clamming beds, and the collapse of the industry brought economic devastation to the local community. Most of the clam shanties were knocked into the river by cars or washed away by storms. Only one clam shanty remains today. ~ History from the Newburyport Clipper City Rail Trail (the plaque on Water Street)

Clam shacks at Joppa, Newburyport
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

Joppa Clam Shacks – map.marybakerart.com

The link to the puzzle is here:
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=25a28acc6350

Abbie Foster’s House

Abbie Foster was born in Newburyport to David Currier a shoe maker and his wife Mary Currier in 1846. Abbie had one brother and two sisters. Her sister Helen Currier never married and they lived together all of their lives, either with their parents, and then boarding with their mother on Spring Street and stayed there after their mother’s death until they moved to 74 High Street.

Abbie had her own business on the corner of Pleasant and State Streets (which is now 52 State Street) called “Miss A. L. Currier” where she sold lace trimmings and jewelry,

Abbie was single until she was 44, and in 1891 she married Daniel Foster who was 60. This was Daniel’s second marriage, there were no children from his first marriage. He came back to Newburyport in 1887 and seems to have boarded in different places, including where Abbie’s family lived, which was 14 Spring Street (now 12 Spring Street). Daniel died in 1893 only 2+ years after they were married. Abbie was a widow for 20 more years.

AFTER Daniel died, in 1894 the heirs of Solomon Haskell and Mark Haskell gave Abbie the land that she built her house on on High Street for $1. Abbie gave the right of way to the City of Newburyport in 1898 and Foster Court is named after her.

In his will, Daniel Foster left Helen, Abbie’s sister, $6,000, which was a whole lot of money back then. Daniel left Abbie the rest of his estate and made her the executor of his will. He left various family members very small amounts of money.

Daniel’s money came from his father Thomas Foster, who was a Revolutionary War hero, and owned N & T Foster with his brother Nathaniel Foster. Thomas was one of the “old time” silver smiths, before Towle Silver existed, and many people apprenticed with him.

Daniel’s family, according to the newspapers, contested the will. They lost. Daniel clearly loved Abbie and her family a whole lot better than his own.

That is how Abbie Foster came to be able to build the gorgeous Queen Anne Victorian at 74 High Street. Abbie lived there for 17 years with her sister and one servant until her death in October 1913.

Abbie Foster’s house, 72 High Street
Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Abbie Foster’s House – map.marybakerart.com

The link to the puzzle is here:
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=17eb0de8161d

The Pink House

The Pink House is located on Plum Island Turnpike. The house’s notoriety is in part due to a popular local urban legend about its creation. The story suggests the house’s location was a result of a divorce in which the wife demanded an exact replica of their Newburyport house, but failed to specify the location, resulting in the spiteful husband building it on the edge of town, in the Great Marsh with saltwater plumbing. For this reason, the building is often listed as an example of a spite house. An effort is being made to save the Pink House.

The Pink House – map.marybakerart.com

The digital image/painting of the Pink House is © Mary Baker

The link to the puzzle is here:
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=19ac5747e386

Here is the link to the map: Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive, Mapping historic stories of Newburyport, MA houses and places, with photos, paintings, videos, old maps, history and anecdotes. Created by The Newburyport Blog, Mary Baker Eaton, editor. (This is one of the many stories that is on the map.)

map.historynewburyport.com

The new website HistoryNewburyport.com that coordinates with the interactive history map has a puzzle for each story on every page. To find the puzzles put “puzzle” into the search box on the new website.

History ~ Newburyport, a new Website about Newburyport’s stories

Ocean Mills – the Industrialization and the Expansion of the North End in the 1800s is on the Newburyport History Map

map.HistoryNewburyport.com

Whitefield Mills, Kent and Munroe Streets formerly Ocean Mills
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Before 1845 the area between Munroe and High Streets was used for pasture and farming.

The Ocean Steam Mills were incorporated by the Massachusetts legislature in March 1845 by Benjamin Saunders, William Balch and Edward S. Lesley. The purpose was to manufacture of cotton cloth.

Burley and Stevens Shoe Factory, 1909
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

The company purchased a parcel of land on the corner of Kent and Munroe Streets extending to Carter Street. In 1845 the company started construction of a four story brick mill building between Kent and Warren Street. The mill was built by Albert Currier, a local contractor. The building was completed the next year and the manufacture of cotton sheeting and calico cloth began.

Birdseye view 1880 map showing the Mill and the houses that had been built around it.

Around1 871 the property was sold and a new company, the Ocean Mills, continued the operation until 1878. At that time the property again changed hands and a third company, the Ocean Mills Company was formed.

1851 Map showing the Mill and that the houses around it had not yet been built.

In 1886 Seth Milliken of New York purchased the mills and name was changed to the Whitefield Mills. The mill did not succeed and in 1889 the machinery was sold to a Southern manufacturer.

Burley, Stevens & Co. manufactured boots and shoes leased the building as did the Bay State Cordage Company which made tarred cordage and binding twine. The Bay State Cordage Company closed in 1907, however Burley, Stevens & Co. continued. They finally closed and most of the mill was abandoned.

1884 Map, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center, showing the Mill and the houses that had been built around it.

The millworkers needed homes close to their work and so there was a lot of new building on on Carter, Kent, Warren and Munroe Streets and the creation of what is now called the Ocean Mills Historic District, which is an excellent representation of a 19th Century Newburyport industrial neighborhood.

The Mill 1980, Courtesy of the City of Newburyport, Historic Property Survey

There were single family cottages, usually Greek Revival or Victorian in style, many are on Carter Street. The second type of residence was a larger home that was used as a boarding house. Three building were build on Munroe Street across from the Ocean Mill by James Blood, a real estate speculator. These house were generally Greek Revival in style. And then there were Victorian buildings and cottages with turned brackets decorating the doorways and sometime the eaves of the house. Albert Currier built one of these buildings on Munroe Street.

The Mill 1980, Courtesy of the City of Newburyport, Historic Property Survey

The overseers and the agents of the mill and skilled craftsmen associated with the industry also built home within this district. These homes were slightly more elaborate, as can be seen on upper Kent Street, they were often vernacular interpretations of one of the many popular Victorian styles such as Second Empire or Victorian Gothic.

The Mill, 53 Warren Street today

In 1941 the Hytron Radio and Electronics Corporation acquired the property for the manufacture of proximity fuse components and radio receiving tubes for the military, and later, television receiving tubes and cathode-ray tubes. In 1959 the factory closed with the loss of 3,000 jobs. In 1996 the building was turned in to luxury condominiums called “The Courtyard.”

History from The City of Newburyport, Historic Property Surveys “The Ocean Mills Historic District” and “53 Warren Street, Ocean Steam Mills,” John J. Currier, the History of Newburyport, and Jerry Mullins, author of the blog, Brick and Tree.

Whitefield Mills, Kent and Munroe Streets formerly Ocean Mills
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

Burley and Stevens Shoe Factory, 1909
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

The Mill 1980, Courtesy of the City of Newburyport, Historic Property Survey

This story is also now on the new website that coordinates with the interactive history map, HistoryNewburyport.com. .

History ~ Newburyport, a new Website about Newburyport’s stories

The story on Ocean Mills can be found here at the new website History ~ Newburyport HistoryNewburyport.com.

Story on Ocean Mills on the new website, History ~ Newburyport

Moulton Castle is on the Newburyport Interactive History-Story Map

map.historynewburyport.com

Moulton Castle
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Henry William Moulton (1833 -1896)

Captain Henry William Moulton returned to Newburyport after the the Civil War in 1865. He came into possession of Moulton Hill, overlooking the Merrimac River, which had been in different branches of Moulton family for six generations. The top of Moulton Hill was said to have the most beautiful landscape in all of New England. In 1868 he built a Gothic-style, 22-room wooden mansion, described as a “noble and picturesque home” on top of the hill, which became known as Moulton Castle.

View from Moulton Castle
Moulton Castle
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Captain Moulton had six children, his only son died when he was less than a year and there was no son to assume his name and the estate.

View of Moulton Castle
Boston Athenaeum, Digital Collection:
George H. Walker & Co.’s Atlas of Essex County, Massachusetts. Boston, 1884, p. 143.

Following Captain Moulton’s death in 1896, the property was bought by financier Charles W. Moseley who tore down Moulton Castle in December 1900. The site of the mansion is now known as Castle Hill and is part of Maudslay State Park.

Moulton Castle
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Part of the Poem called “Moulton Castle,” by Charles Clinton Jones

“It stood on a pine fringed hill-top
O’er looking the ancient town,
And the winding course of the river;
That turreted castle brown.
For more than a generation
It guarded the country-side,
The city and bay and islands,
And the marshes low and wide.”

Henry William Moulton (1833 -1896)

History from The Moulton Family Search and the Boston Athenaeum and History of Maudslay State Park in Newburyport by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks

Photographs:
Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection
Boston Athenaeum, Digital Collection:
George H. Walker & Co.’s Atlas of Essex County, Massachusetts. Boston, 1884, p. 143.

This story is also now on the new website that coordinates with the interactive history map, History ~ Newburyport at HistoryNewburyport.com.

History ~ Newburyport, a new Website about Newburyport’s stories

The story on Moulton Castle can be found here at the new website History ~ Newburyport HistoryNewburyport.com.

Story on Moulton Castle on the new website, History ~ Newburyport

Eliphalet Griffin is on the Map, The Home for Aged Men, 5 Columbus Ave, 31-35 Pleasant Street

map.historynewburyport.com

Portrait (detail) of Epliphet Griffin courtesy of The Griffin House

Eliphalet Griffin (1824 – 1899) was born in Newburyport in 1824. He started out as a clerk for a dry goods store and then opened his own store downtown. The Newburyport Daily News reported that in the early 1850s he went to California, which would have been during the California Gold Rush and opened a successful and prosperous wholesale clothing house. When he returned to Massachusetts he worked for a firm in Boston that had a large contract during the Civil War that sold uniforms for the United States government. Eliphalet Griffin returned to Newburyport in the 1860s a wealthy man.*

Portrait (detail) of Epliphet Griffin courtesy of The Griffin House

In 1863 he married Elizabeth Balch of Newburyport and they had two children. The City Directories show Eliphalet living at 31 Tyng Street, however in 1869 he built a Second Empire style house on what was then the corner of High Street and Columbus Avenue, and upon completion it was reported in the Newburyport Herald that it was “one of the best Newburyport houses in modern times.”** The 1870 Census shows that Eliphalet is 44, Elizabeth is 40, their daughter Hannah is 5 and their son Eliphalet is 3.

Epliphet Griffin’s house, 5 Columbus Ave, today

Epliphet built a beautiful three story, Queen Anne/Panel Brick style building on Pleasant Street, now 31-35 Pleasant Street, completed in 1889 which still stands today. The first floor contained two storefronts, a series of offices on the second floor and a large hall on the third floor. The hall was known as Griffin Hall and was the scene of many dances in the 1950s, it also showed moving pictures before a law was passed that movie theaters must be on the ground floor. In the 1890 the ground floor was occupied by the Boston Boot & Shoe Company and Kent & Bolton clothiers and finishers. Later it was leased to Woolworth’s and to Boxer’s Furniture among other establishments. ***

The photograph of the Griffin Block ca. 1890–1899 is courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury.

31-35 Pleasant Street today

Epliphet’s great passion, however, was building the Griffin House, the Home for Aged Men at 363 High Street across from Atkinson Common. In 1886 along with Albert W. Greenleaf and Lawrence B. Cushing, Epliphet created the Newburyport Society for the Relief of Aged Men. Epliphet gave the society the lot of land and built the foundation of the brick building at his own expense in 1896. The building was completed two or three years later. Mr Griffin died in 1899. Due to lack of funds the home remained unfurnished and unoccupied until 1902. ^* Much of the original furniture and woodwork remains in the house today. The Griffin House contains 9 rooms, the men must be 65 and able to take care of themselves. Some of the staff have been there for over 3 decades, the home is a family and the inside feels and looks very much like it must have looked in 1906. It is a wonderful place.

The postcard of the Griffin House, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

The hallway of The Griffin House today

Furniture in The Griffin House today

The Griffin House today

Epliphet Griffin organized the most amazing fairs at his home on High Street to raise funds for the Home for Aged Men. One fair is described in the Newburyport Herald, Sept 21, 1887 in which 5000 – 6000 people attended. The main attraction was a “great air ship” 126 feet in circumference and 42 feet in diameter. Ultimately the balloon did not ascend, it was not able to be filled with the 150,000 feet of gas that was required. The Museum of Old Newbury has three photographs of the balloon.

The photograph of the the ballon/air ship being filled is courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury.

The photograph of the the ballon/air ship being filled for the Fair is courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury.

There were many attractions, however, beside the balloon – a concert, various booths and tents, dancing, ice cream, candy, soda and fruit; a supper that provided cold roast chicken, ham, corned beef, lamb, baked beans, rolls, bread, oysters, chicken and lobster salad, many kinds of cake, cream cakes and pies. The large barn was filled to overflowing for the dances, there were floral processions by 500 children, and a band played both in the afternoon and evening. ^** Eliphalet Griffin knew how to throw a great party and raised a great deal of money for the Home for Aged Men. How wonderful that the Griffin House still exists today, basically unchanged.

Griffin Home Fair – Sept 9, 1898, hanging in The Griffin House today
Miss Addie Plllisbury (L) Miss Minnie Toppan (R)
Courtesy of The Griffin House

* Newburyport Daily News, July 11, 1899
** The Historical Society of Old Newburyport
*** City of Newburyport Historical Property Surveys
^* John J. Currier, History of Newburyport, Vol II
^** Newburyport Herald, Sept 21, 1887

Portrait of Epliphet Griffin courtesy of the Griffin House

The photographs of the the ballon/air ship being filled are courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury.

The postcards of the Griffin House are courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

The photograph of the Griffin Block ca. 1890–1899 is courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury.

Griffin Home Fair – Sept 9, 1898
Miss Addie Plllisbury (L) Miss Minnie Toppan (R)
Courtesy of The Griffin House

The story on the Griffin House can be found here at the new website History ~ Newburyport HistoryNewburyport.com.

Story on the Griffin House on the new website, History ~ Newburyport

Newburyport Map – The Corner of Harris and State Streets – the Dodge House, the YMCA, the Library

map.historynewburyport.com

The Dodge House, State Street

William and Dana Dodge, who were brothers, built a beautiful double house around 1846 on the corner of Harris and State Streets. William and his wife Ruth had no children, Dana was married to Abby and they had a large family. Dana manufactured and sold carriages on Liberty Street, tragically died at age 56 of a compound fracture of the leg and pneumonia leaving debts and his wife and children.

Detail of State Street
Courtesy of the New York Public Library

The Dodge House, State Street
Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Ruth, Abby’s sister-in-law, bought Dana’s side of the house with all the belongings. Abby and her children were forced to move out to 2 Harris Street, a smaller house behind the large Dodge House on State Street. Ruth and William rented out Dana and Abby’s side of the house in 1874, with Dana and Abby’s furnishings, the ad says “The house is in first rate order, containing eleven furnished rooms. Gas throughout, a good furnace and every way fitted for a genteel family.” It seems that over her life time Abby went to live with different sons and outlived them all except one. Abby Dodge died in Haverhill, living with her youngest son John.

Advertisement for Dana Dodge Carriages

It was decided that the YMCA would be built on the site of the Dodge House. In 1889 the Dodge house was moved, with its chimneys, to1-3 Garden Street where it exists in its altered form today as apartments. The large “Old Liberty Tree Elm” was cut down to move the house and to build the new structure.

Description of moving the Dodge House in the local Newspaper, August 23, 1889

“The moving of the Dodge house from State to Garden street was a lesson for building movers in this city. Nobody ever saw a large building so easily and quietly moved. It was not necessary to take down the chimneys, and had a family been living in it ethyl would have found no need of moving out. We don’t think a loud word was spoken, but every man had a place and knew what and when to do, and even the horses ere like trained animals that knew the master’s voice and delighted to obey.” – August 23, 1889

YMCA building, State and Harris Streets
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

The YMCA was completed in 1891, it was destroyed by a fire July 1987. On May 6, 2001 the newly expanded library opened and exists today at the corner of Harris and State Street. ~ History and research by Mary Baker Eaton

1888 Map of where the Dodge House was located on Garden Street

YMCA building, State and Harris Streets
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

State Street
Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Detail of State Street
Courtesy of the New York Public Library

Many thanks to the Newburyport Archival Center for all their help in researching this story.

History Map of Newburyport – Inn Street

map.historynewburyport.com

Inn Street looking toward Market Square ca. 1840–1987
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

What is now Inn Street is roughly the area where the fire started in l811destroying much of Market Square. Inn Street was laid out in l8l8 as part of the reconstruction on the area after the fire.

nn Street from Pleasant St. to Market Square ca. 1890–1899
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

Most of the buildings on Inn Street were demolished as part of Urban Renewal in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The demolition of the area was stopped and restoration and renewal was adopted. Today Inn Street is a thriving pedestrian mall, it was completed in 1974 and downtown Newburyport is a national example of historic preservation. ~ History courtesy of the City of Newburyport, Historic Property Surveys

Looking up Inn St. before Urban Renewal
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

Urban renewal, Inn St. demolition, May 1968
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection

Inn Street today, courtesy of Mary Baker Eaton

Photographs courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, the Snow Collection, and Mary Baker Eaton

Where to find Walking Maps about Newburyport’s History

map.historynewburyport.com

The editor of The Newburyport Blog, me, Mary Baker Eaton, has decided to map all the research that I’ve done over the years for The Newburyport Blog and for “If This House Could Talk – Newburyport,” and then some more researching and mapping after that. The stories are from all walks of life and from different periods during Newburyport’s history. The stories are about houses, people, places and events told and illustrated with photographs, paintings, videos, old maps, history and anecdotes (and even a poem). They are about are men and women, eccentric and proper, rich and poor, successful and those who have fallen on hard times. And the history of Newburyport mirrors the themes and places of the people who have lived here.

Ghlee Woodworth created the most amazing project in 2012 – the Clipper Heritage Trail. You can download different maps from different areas of the city and learn all about Newburyport’s fascinating history.

The Clipper Heritage Trail

“Welcome to the Clipper Heritage Trail, a series of self-guided history tours of Newburyport. Step back in time and walk in the footsteps of shipbuilders and sea captains; bakers, clam diggers and comb makers; silversmiths and soldiers; abolitionists and African Americans; and authors and artists. Explore the hidden corners of a destination where the first settlers of Newbury landed in 1635 on the northern shores of the Parker River.” ~ Ghlee Woodworth, The Clipper City Heritage Trail

The link to the Clipper Heritage Trail can be found here: http://www.clipperheritagetrail.com

Newburyport History Map – Keeping the Story Alive

map.historynewburyport.com

There are so many Newburyport stories that are being lost or have been lost. People are forgetting Newburyport’s history, from Urban Renewal in the late 1960s early 1970s, to Bossy Gillis, Truman Nelson, Alice Hooper Fowle Cutler, painter Laura Coombs Hills, poet Hannah Flagg Gould, Rebecca Rawson, Mt. Rural, writer John P. Marquand, Curzon Mill, artist Ethel Reed, The Old Pillsbury House.

Go to the map to find out all about these stories and where the people lived or where the stories took place in Newburyport.

The historic/story map is an outgrowth of Newburyport’s “If This House Could Talk” and all the research that has been done on stories and history for the Newburyport Blog since 2006. The concept of This House Could Talk is to collect and present local history, and historical anecdotes, through a collaborative activity in which residents and businesses post hand made signs and graphics in front of their homes and businesses, telling stories and offering information from the recent or not-so-recent past. It does not matter if the house and/or story is old or new, ordinary or rare and important. The signs have a range of information from the architectural history, to personal experiences and stories of the current or historic residents of a particular house. If This House Could Talk offers neighborhood residents a way to present historical information with a personal voice. This type of free and accessible presentation of information in public places encourages walking and exploration of a neighborhood in order to discover and learn from the signs and artworks. The hope is that the sharing of local history might bring the community together through the engagement with the stories, and contribute to building a sense of place. An increased appreciation for historical preservation can also be a byproduct. The hope is that the interactive history/story map is an ongoing continuation of this objective.

Mapping Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive

map.historynewburyport.com

There are so many Newburyport stories that are being lost or have been lost. People are forgetting the story of Urban Renewal in the late 1960s early 1970s. And there are so many stories that over this next year will be added to the map.

Newburyport Stories

Go to the map to find out all about these stories and where the people lived or where the stories took place in Newburyport.

Mapping Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive – 267 High Street, Rebecca Rawson

267 High Street – The tragic story of Rebecca Rawson (1656–1692)

Portrait of Rebecca Rawson c.1670, oil on canvas, courtesy of The New England Historic Genealogical Society

The story of Rebecca Rawson is one of great love, betrayal and cruelty by a con artist and a hustler, and then even more tragedy.

The Old Pillsbury House, 267 High Street, Newburyport, MA Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Edward Rawson, Rebecca’s father, sold his house and forty acres of land in Newbury in 1651 to William Pillsbury of Dorchester, and that is why it is known as the Pillsbury House.

The story can be read on the History ~ Newburyport website here.

Pillsbury home, on High Street, built in 1710
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

City and harbor of Newburyport, Mass. as seen from Pillsbury’s hill
Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

map.historynewburyport.com

Rebecca Rawson (1656–1692)

Mapping Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive – John P. Marquand, 82 Curzon Mill Rd

82 Curzon Mill Rd – John P. Marquand (1893-1960)

Marquand-Hale House near Curzon Mill
Courtesy of The Historical Society of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

“When financial reverses broke up the family’s comfortable household, John P. Marquand was sent to Newburyport, Massachusetts, where he was raised by his eccentric aunts, who lived in a crumbling Federal Period mansion surrounded by remnants of the family’s vanished glory. Marquand’s ancestors had been successful merchants in the Revolutionary period; Margaret Fuller and other aunts had been actively involved with the Transcendentalist and abolitionist movements.

Curzon Mill, Marquand house in the background
Courtesy of The Historical Society of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection

Marquand attended Newburyport High School, where he won a scholarship that enabled him to attend Harvard College.

82 Curzon Mill Road, Newburyport, MA today

82 Curzon Mill Road today

In the late 1930s, Marquand began producing a series of novels on the dilemmas of class, most centered on New England. The first of these, The Late George Apley (1937), a satire of Boston’s upper class, won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1938. Other Marquand novels exploring New England and class themes include Wickford Point (1939), H.M. Pulham, Esquire (1941), and Point of No Return (1949).” ~ Wikipedia

John P. Marquand

map.historynewburyport.com

Curzon Mill, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Mapping 32 Green Street home of Alice Hooper Fowle Cutler

Portrait of Alice Hooper by John Singleton Copley

Alice Hooper Fowle Cutler (1746–1826) was the daughter of Robert “King” Hooper, one of the wealthiest men in New England prior to the American Revolution as well as the sister of Stephen Hooper, who lived in Newburyport.

According an historian at St. Paul’s Church of Alice’s husbands when they died left her with children, no fortune, and no means of support, also reported by historian John J. Currier. Apparently Alice ran a rooming house in the beautiful house at 32 Green Street as a way to make ends meet. According to the Newburyport’s historic survey on the house, as well as the deed, in 1810, the house was divided in two, and Alice must have lived in one half and the wife and heirs of Joseph Bartlett lived in the other half.

Alice is buried at St. Paul’s church between her two husbands,

Alice died in 1826 at the age of 81. Alice is buried at St. Paul’s church between her two husbands, Joseph Cutler on the left and Jacob Fowle Jr on the right. ( Joseph Cutler died in 1801 and her first husband Jacob Fowle Jr died in 1778.)

Mapping of 32 Green Street

map.historynewburyport.com

Mapping of 32 Green Street

Mapping Newburyport’s Historic Places, Keeping the Story Alive – Starting with Stephen Hooper

In thinking about how to keep Newburyport’s history alive, I thought I might try mapping historic places in Newburyport. I started with Stephen Hooper’s house on Frog Pong.

Mapping History of Newburyport, starting with Stephen Hooper’s house

“Merchant and shipbuilder, son of Robert “King” Hooper of Marblehead, settled in Newburyport and became one of the town’s most prominent residents. Active in the West Indies trade, he was a partner in numerous privateering ventures during the Revolution. Although in 1786 he was the second richest man in Newburyport, by 1790 his net worth was only a fraction of what it once had been.” ~ The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, Volume 6,” Columbia University Press, By Maeva Marcus

Buildings by Frog Pond – Stephen Hooper’s house

“Its (the Free Mason Lodge, now located on Green Street) first Master was Stephen Hooper and its second Nathaniel Tracy two eminent and wealthy merchants who will always be remembered in our history.” ~ The Newburyport Daily Herald 1856

Stephen Hooper’s House, Pond Street

The portrait of Stephen Hooper is painted by Henry Pelham (the stepbrother of John Singleton Copley), a miniature, set in gold, 1773, a watercolor on ivory in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Portrait of Stephen Hooper,painted by Henry Pelham (the stepbrother of John Singleton Copley), a miniature, set in gold, 1773, a watercolor on ivory in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

1851 Map showing building by Frog Pond

map.historynewburyport.com

Survey of Frog Pond 1771, City of Newburyport

An Unlikely Friendship between two Bloggers from Georgia and Newburyport

Sam Burnham and I formed an unlikely friendship in these divisive times. Sam is from Georgia, he is a Southern conservative and I am from Newburyport, Massachusetts, a Northern moderate liberal. We got to know each other when a pretty vicious website attacked where we lived in October 2015 for “click bate.” Sam and I were both pretty angry (so were a lot of other folks) and spoke up online against the two click bate young men who were behind it. Sam and I stayed in touch. He writes a blog, very much like mine, loves historic preservation, loves where he lives, his blog is called All the Biscuits in Georgia. Sam is a gentleman.

And since our country is so at odds with each other, Sam and I have mulled over the idea of how to transcend the cultural divide.

Sam started by including Newburyport in a blog post, he used two gorgeous photos and talked about the heroic achievement of Urban Renewal. It was very nice of him.

Here are two photos of Rome, Georgia, and one of rural Georgia, both are very important to Sam.

Rome, Georgia

Rome, Georgia, historic Broad Street

Near Adairsville, Ga, Courtesy and © All the Biscuits in Georgia

Sam and I disagree about a lot of stuff, but we also agree about a lot of stuff. We shared a common “adversary,” we also share a passion for historic preservation and a passion about the “sense of place” where we live.

Here are the photos of Newburyport that Sam put up on his blog post.

Unitarian Church on Pleasant Street, Newburyport, MA

Newburyport, Market Square

The Building of Rt 1 in Newburyport and the Neighborhood that Disappeared

I’ve been working on an art series using historic photographs in the Public Domain from the South. It’s been really fun and an amazing combination of my love for historic preservation and art and painting. I thought that I would experiment with historic images from the Public Domain that are in Newburyport. The ones in Newburyport in the Pubic Domain are from the Library of Congress and are of a neighborhood between Summer and Winter Streets that disappeared with the building of Rt 1 in 1934.

32 Summer Street, Newburyport - Digital Image

32 Summer Street – Digital Image

32 Summer Street – Digital Image

Building dates c 1760 and was taken down for Rt 1

Marden House, 32 Summer Street, Newburyport, Essex County, MA
Historic American Buildings Survey
C 1934
Original image from the Library of Congress

https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ma0664.photos/?sp=2

32 Summer Street, Newburyport, Courtesy of the Library of Congress

32 Summer Street, the original image from the Library of Congress

5 Birch Street, Newburyport - Digital Image

5 Birch Street – Digital Image

5 Birch Street – Digital Image

The building dates c 1740 and was taken down for Rt 1.

Stockman House, 5 Birch Street, Newburyport, Essex County, MA
Historic American Buildings Survey
c 1934
Original image from the Library of Congress

https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ma0670.photos/?sp=1

5 Birch Street, Newburyport, Courtesy of the Library of Congress

5 Birch Street, Courtesy of the Library of Congress

5 Birch Street the original image from the Library of Congress

31-33 Winter Street, Newburyport- Digital Image

31-33 Winter Street – Digital Image

31-33 Winter Street – Digital Image

The building dates c 1770 and was taken down for Rt 1.
Original image is from the Library of Congress
Charles Stockman House, 31-33 Winter Street, Newburyport, Essex County, MA
Historic American Buildings Survey
c. 1934
The original image from the Library of Congress

https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ma0671.photos/?sp=1

31-33 Winter Street, Newburyport, Courtesy of the Library of Congress

31-33 Winter Street, Courtesy of the Library of Congress

31-33 Winter Street, the original image from the Library of Congress

7 Birch Street, Newburyport – Digital Image

7 Birch Street – Digital Image

Building dates c 1815 and was taken down for Rt 1

Original image from the Library of Congress

Regan House, 7 Birch Street, Newburyport, Essex County, MA
Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
c. 1934
The original image from the Library of Congress

https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ma0667.photos/?sp=1

7 Birch Street, Newburyport, Courtesy of the Library of Congress

7 Birch Street, the original image from the Library of Congress

Building Rt 1, c 1934, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

This is the building of Rt 1 Courtesy of the Archival Center at the Newburyport Public Library

1851 Map, Winter and Summer Streets, Newburyport

And this is what the neighborhood looked like from an 1851 map. Inside the red lines are the buildings that were taken down to make room for the roadway.

Keeping the Tradition of Community in the South End Alive

Corner of Purchase and Lime Streets, Newburyport, MA, D.A. Goodwin Groceries, Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury

The Corner of Purchase and Lime Streets, Courtesy of the Historical Society of Old Newbury, The Snow Photograph Collection, D. A. Goodwin and Sons Grocery Store – 1864-1917 https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:tq57pr04v

The Brown School was one of the last vestiges of the neighborhood feel of the South End. With the loss of the Brown School the neighborhood lost a place to meet, congregate and make connections that have lasted for some, a lifetime. It is one of the reasons that the neighborhood so appreciates the Newburyport Youth Services. Whatever happens to that site, it would be wonderful to include a place where people can congregate and make neighborhood connections. The Emma Andrews Library and Community Center (which is located at the corner of Marlboro and Purchase Streets) is in incredible example of how the neighborhood made a small place into a connected space for people of all ages, run by a dedicated and imaginative group of volunteers.

The space could be called something like the “George Brown, South End Community Center.” It would not have to be a large space. The Emma Andrews has a handicapped bathroom, a handicapped entrance, a portable refrigerator and coffeemaker and some furniture. That is all the space would need. It could have a small lending library, photos of what the neighborhood once looked like that are available through the Archival Center at the Newburyport Library and the Museum of Old Newbury to keep memories of the neighborhood alive. It could be a place where art is shown, story hours for children, potluck lunch and dinners, book clubs – there are all kinds of ideas. We could also make a space for a few community gardens, something that people have wanted for a long time, where the playground and park will eventually be located, to keep that area vibrant and welcoming, as well as edible.

As the City wrestles with what to do with this very complex and expensive site ($14 – $20 million estimated in 2014) it would be good to have as part of any eventual plan a place that keeps the fabric of the neighborhood alive and keep the South End tradition of a place where people gather, mingle, find friendship, support and commonality.

Corner of Purchase and Lime Streets, Newburyport, MA, D.A. Goodwin Groceries, Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury

Newburyport If This House Could Talk-2018, So Many Great Posters

All the posters that folks made for “If This House Could Talk – 2018” are terrific, it is very hard to pick ones to share on The Newburyport Blog. But here are a few more.

45 Purchase Street, Hicks Bakery, Newburyport

45 Purchase Street, If This House Could Talk – 2018

Drawing of what 45 Purchase Street in Newburyport, then known as Hicks Bakery, looked like around 1920.

What 45 Purchase Street, then Hicks Bakery, looked like around 1920.

What 45 Purchase Street looks like today

What 45 Purchase looks like today

10 Beck Street, Newburyport

10 Beck Street, If This House Could Talk – 2018

10 Beck Street, Newburyport, today.

10 Beck Street, Newburyport, today

93 State Street, the Institution for Savings

93 State Street, the Institution for Savings, If This House Could Talk – 2018

93 State Street, the Institution for Savings, is as beautiful today as when it was built.

93 State Street, Newburyport, today

115 Merrimac Street

115 Merrimac Street, If This House Could Talk – 2018

The poster for 115 Merrimac Street in Newburyport tells the story, its history and what it looks like today.

To see the complete album for “If This House Could Talk – 2018” go here.

This link also works to see the album.

And please visit the “If This House Could Talk” Facebook page.

The Newburyport Blog

About Newburyport, MA, 35 miles northeast of Boston on the mouth of the Merrimac River

Category Archives: Civics

Working with GridPlay Designs to Create the New Website History~Newburyport

History ~ Newburyport, a new website about Newburyport’s stories

Puzzles During a Stressful Time from the Newburyport Interactive History Map map.historynewburyport.com

Ocean Mills – the Industrialization and the Expansion of the North End in the 1800s is on the Newburyport History Map

Moulton Castle is on the Newburyport Interactive History-Story Map

Eliphalet Griffin is on the Map, The Home for Aged Men, 5 Columbus Ave, 31-35 Pleasant Street

Newburyport Map – The Corner of Harris and State Streets – the Dodge House, the YMCA, the Library

History Map of Newburyport – Inn Street

Where to find Walking Maps about Newburyport’s History

Newburyport History Map – Keeping the Story Alive

Mapping Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive

Mapping Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive – 267 High Street, Rebecca Rawson

Mapping Newburyport – Keeping the Story Alive – John P. Marquand, 82 Curzon Mill Rd

Mapping 32 Green Street home of Alice Hooper Fowle Cutler

Mapping Newburyport’s Historic Places, Keeping the Story Alive – Starting with Stephen Hooper

An Unlikely Friendship between two Bloggers from Georgia and Newburyport

The Building of Rt 1 in Newburyport and the Neighborhood that Disappeared

Keeping the Tradition of Community in the South End Alive

More Posters for Newburyport’s “If This House Could Talk -2018”

Newburyport If This House Could Talk-2018, So Many Great Posters