Category Archives: Culture

Culture, Newburyport, MA, the quality in people of Newburyport and Newburyport’s society, that comes from a concern for what is excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.

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

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 – 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.

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.

Newburyport “If This House Could Talk-2018”

Newburyport’s “If This House Could Talk” is in its 3rd year, and what a hit it is. Here are four of the posters of more than 100 that are all around town.

1 Purchase Street

1 Purchase Street, poster for Newburyport, If This House Could Talk-2018

19 Washington Street

19 Washington Street, poster for Newburyport, If This House Could Talk-2018

39 Franklin Street

39 Franklin Street, poster for Newburyport, If This House Could Talk-2018

The Pink House

The Pink House, poster for Newburyport, If This House Could Talk-2018

The entire album of this year’s posters can be seen here.

And please visit the website for If This House Could Talk – Newburyport.

If This House Could Talk – Newburyport is sponsored by the Newburyport Preservation Trust.

The album can also be seen here.

Laroy S. Starrett – A Farmer, a Famous Business Man, an Inventor, whose First Patent was in Newburyport, MA

A friend of mine collects old tools and asked me to see what I could find out about Laroy Starrett and his time here in Newburyport, so I went on a hunt. And this is one fascinating gentleman.

Laroy Starrett, or L.S. Starrett as he eventually went by, was born in China, Maine in 1836. It’s possible that he came to Newburyport as early as 1855, but he definitely shows up on the 1860 Census. I found him listed as working for Mrs. Mary White Bannister Hale, the widow of Ebenezer Hale, at Mount Rural. He is listed as a farmer (and he was a very good farmer).

What is so cool is that in the 1851 map in the Archival Center at the Newburyport Library, there is a drawing of Mount Rural, the residence of Mrs. S.W. Hale, although it no longer exists today. And I can imagine young Laroy walking to the house looking for a job as a young man.

Mount Rural, Residence of Mrs. S.W. Hale, 1851 map of Newburyport

Mount Rural, Residence of Mrs. S.W. Hale, 1851 map of Newburyport

Mount Rural is where the Newburyport High School exists today, back then it was a little different.

Here is the the 1851 map with the house and the land.

The 1851 map with the house and the land, Mount Rural, Residence of Mrs. S.W. Hale

The 1851 map with the house and the land, Mount Rural, Residence of Mrs. S.W. Hale

And here is an 1846 map of the land, Salem Deeds Online, Book 373, Page 211

1846 map of the land, Essex Deeds, Book 373, Page 211

1846 map of the land, Essex Deeds, Book 373, Page 211

And there is a mention of him in the newspaper, “Laroy Starrett—from Mount Rural” and a list of the “profusion of products” that he exhibited, “Carrots, Beets, Turnips and very large Jackson White Potatoes, also, three varieties of Wheat.”

From a 1860 newspaper mentioning Laroy Starrett

From a 1860 newspaper mentioning Laroy Starrett

Historic New England has a wonderful photo of two men harvesting Mount Rural in 1880.

Two men harvesting Mount Rural in 1880, Courtesy of Historic New England

Two men harvesting Mount Rural in 1880, Courtesy of Historic New England

In 1861 Laroy married Lydia W. Bartlett, from Newburyport, her father and mother were Henry A. Bartlett and Hanna Bartlett. Lydia’s father is listed as a farmhand and her mother worked in one of the mills. I have this romantic image of how Laroy and Lydia might have met. When they lived in Newburyport they had three children. The 1865 Census lists Laroy as a farmer, married with two young children, Frank age three and Ada age one. Alice is born in Newburyport in 1867.

In the Newburyport City Directory, the Starretts are listed from 1864-1865 at “the little Turkey Hill farm.” What I am wondering is if Laroy was working or even at that point running the farm at Turkey Hill, which belonged to John Gardner Little. If so, the house exists to this day, it is 100 Turkey Hill Road. It was built by Colonel Moses Little of the Seventeenth Regiment in the Revolutionary War (John J. Currier and the Newburyport Historical Commission).

The house build by Colonel Moses Little in 1748, 100 Turkey Hill Road

The house build by Colonel Moses Little in 1748, 100 Turkey Hill Road

L. S. Starrett is not known for his farming, he is known for his tools and as an inventor and as a very famous business man.

In 1866 the Starretts moved to 12 Tyng Street (lower Tyng Street near Merrimac Street), which could also be 16-18 Tyng Street, there is no way of knowing (the street numbers change over the years), but they moved from the farm into town, and that was because Laroy had invented a meat cutter in 1865.

16-18 Tyng Street and 12-14 Tyng Street

16-18 Tyng Street and 12-14 Tyng Street

Here are the drawings for the patent.

The drawings of the 1865 meat cutter by Laroy Starrett

The drawings of the 1865 meat cutter by Laroy Starrett

And here is one of the original meat cutters.

A meat cutter invented by Larry Starrett

A meat cutter invented by Larry Starrett.

Laroy was making and selling the meat choppers at 103 and 105 Merrimac Street, which may well have been close to Tyng Street, or at least in walking distance . In 1867 and 1868 Laroy was advertising the meat cutter/chopper a lot in the local newspapers.

A 1868 advertisement for Laroy Starrett’s meat cutter

A 1868 advertisement for Laroy Starrett’s meat cutter

He was so successful that he left Newburyport to manufacture his inventions, which also included a washing machine and a butter worker, in Athol Massachusetts, which is in the upper western part of the state near Gardner.

Today L.S. Starrett is a multi-million global company trading on the New York Stock Exchange, all sorts of amazing tools and instruments whose headquarters are still in Athol Massachusetts. It is still influenced by the family (which is pretty cool).

L. S. Starrett Manufacturing Company plant, Athol, Massachusetts, 1905

L. S. Starrett Manufacturing Company plant, Athol, Massachusetts, 1905

This is from the Worcester Business Journal, “Big Business, Doug Starrett,” by Christina Davis

“Douglas A. Starrett may run a large global business representing more than $220 million in annual sales, but his management style and demeanor is more akin to a manager of a small 20-person office.

As he walks the snaking halls of L.S. Starrett Co.’s monstrous 555,000-square-foot headquarters in Athol, he greets employees by name. Many employees – some who’ve worked at the company producing precision measuring tools for more than 30 years – stop to chat, and to gently chide the boss about his recent decision to shave off his beard. His annual letter to employees and retirees contains as much in the way of business updates as it does down-to-earth charm – including the score from the Thanksgiving Day Athol football game.

He’s equally at home setting up operations in some far-flung location halfway around the globe as he is approving name tags for a semi-annual employee meeting.

“We’ve got a big breadth and scope, but I like to think we operate as a small business,” Doug Starrett said.”

This is a pretty amazing legacy for a farmhand on Mrs. Hale’s estate, Mount Rural, Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Newburyport — Resiliency

Market Square, 1972 from the alley next to the Fire House.

Market Square, Newburyport, around 1972, before Urban Renewal, from the alley next to the Fire House. Courtesy of Sharon Bauer, via the Newburyport History Buffs.

It always takes my breath away when I see photos of Newburyport before Urban Renewal. This is a photo, courtesy of Sharon Bauer via the Newburyport History Buffs on Facebook, of Market Square before the restoration of downtown. It was a slum. It’s very fancy now, in fact the whole town is very fancy now, but it was a slum. Sharon has the date as 1972, but it may be even earlier than that.

I moved here in 1981, downtown Newburyport had been restored, but the rest of Newburyport surrounding the downtown had not been. I was in the late part of the first wave that “discovered” Newburyport, an historic small city, surrounded by farmland, that seemed to be preserved in amber. We were painters, writers, musicians, teachers who thought we had discovered an unfinished masterpiece.

I bought my first house, a gorgeous Greek Revival on Federal Street, for $74,000 and was upset because the folks who sold it had it for one year and had doubled their money.

By the time I had driven down High Street and had parked on Green Street in front of the real estate agency, I knew this was home. I didn’t even know about Plum Island until after I bought the house (now that was an amazing surprise/plus). The Tannery was still a tannery (David Hall had not yet transformed it) and Maudslay State Park did not exist. The natives looked at those of us who came in early with a whole lot of suspicion (the subject of many, many blog posts over the years on The Newburyport Blog).

One of the things I sensed about Newburyport, I knew absolutely nothing about the city, was its resiliency. And Urban Renewal was not the first time that Newburyport had risen like a phoenix from the ashes. As a young woman that sense of resiliency resinated with me, it still does.

And now, 36 years later, Newburyport is in a “boom” phase. A friend of mine said to me, many, many years ago, that Newburyport was headed up, but it’s history was one of ups and downs, and it would decline again.

As I said, we are fancy now, so fancy I can hardly remember the resilient aura. I loved the city back in 1981 and I’ve loved it as it has blossomed in unimaginable ways. Yes there feels as if part of it is lost (so many blog posts on The Newburyport Blog) but I love where I live 36 years later.

Inn Street, Newburyport MA

Newburyport, There Once was a Railroad Station on Pond Street where CVS is Now

Back in September when I did a story on 7 Pond Street I discovered all sorts of things about Pond Street and the Bartlet Mall that I never knew before. And one of those things is that there was once a railroad station where CVS is now located.

The 1851 Map of Frog Pond

1851 Map, Frog Pond, Newburyport, MA

In the 1851 Map of Frog Pond there are a bunch of houses between Frog Pond and Pond Street.

The 1872 map showing the Railroad depot.

1872 Map showing Frog Pond and the Rail Road

In the 1872 map most of those houses still exist, but low and behold there is a train depot across the street where CVS is now located.

Detail of the 1872 map

1872 Map, detail, Rail Road, Pond and Greenleaf Street

The 1924 map of Pond Street

1924 Map of Pond Street

And in the 1924 map the houses between Frog Pond and Pond Street are now gone, but the building where CVS is now is still there.

A map of the rail road routes into and out of Newburyport, from Scott’s Railroad Archaeology Page

A map of the rail road routes into and out of Newburyport, from Scott’s Railroad Archaeology Page

Fortunately Joe Callahan wrote an article in the Newburyport Daily News in 2009 with lots of information about the railroad station. Joe wrote that around 1853 the Boston and Maine Railroad took over the operation of the Newburyport Railroad Company and both passenger and freight service existed. The passenger depot building faced Pond Street and the Bartlet Mall. Around 1884 passenger service stopped on Pond Street and the depot was used only for freight.

This is a photograph of the Pond Street Depot from the New York Public Library.

Pond Street Depot from the New York Public Library

Pond Street from the New York Public Library, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. “Pond St.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Detail of the passenger station depot with houses across the street courtesy of the New York Public Library

Detail of the passenger station depot with houses across the street, New York Public Library

Second detail with the houses across the street (that are on the map) from the New York Public Library

Detail of the passenger station depot with houses across the street, New York Public Library

The New York Public Library also has this photograph of the Pond Street houses.

Pond Street houses, courtesy of the New York Public Library

Pond Street houses, courtesy of the New York Public Library

And yes indeed they match exactly the photograph that we have in the Newburyport Public Library of the houses that once belonged to Stephen Hooper (see earlier post).

Pond Street houses courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Pond Street houses courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

All of which is pretty cool.

And the Newburyport Public Library also has a photograph of the B&M Passenger Station in the Archival Center.

Passenger station courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Passenger station courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center.

A second photograph of the train station across from Frog Pond courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center.

Passenger station, Pond Street, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

By 1921 the train station looks like it had fallen on harder times. This photograph is from a book published in 1921, “The Boston and Maine Railroad; a history of the main road, with its tributary lines,” by Francis Boardman Crowninshield Bradlee.

The Newburyport train station in 1921

The Newburyport train station in 1921

Joe Callahan writes that, “The original passenger depot building that faced on Pond Street was purchased in 1928 by “Bossy” Gillis and moved to Dalton Street. It was demolished several years later.”

On February 21, 1935, according to Joe, “The new B&M “Flying Yankee” streamliner arrived at the Pond Street yard and opened for public inspection. The Daily News reported 6,000 people boarded and viewed its lavish interior.”

The Flying Yankee was a very big deal.

Photograph of the Flying Yankee

Photograph of the Flying Yankee

A ticket for the Flying Yankee between Boston and Newburyport

A ticket for the Flying Yankee between Boston and Newburyport

A menu for the Flying Yankee

A menu for the Flying Yankee

There was no kitchen or dining car for food preparation on the train, passengers ate at their seats with trays similar to airline service. The food for the train was provided by the Armstrong Company.

The Boston and Maine Timetable 1943

The Boston and Maine Timetable 1943

According to Joe, “There was an old wooden roundhouse at the Pond Street yard, and upon the elimination of the passenger service, it was moved to face Greenleaf Street. In March 1908, Glen Mills Cereal Company of Rowley leased the structure and operated for many years making flour. The mill, under different owners, ceased operations in the early 1940s. Both Hytron and C. Leary Bottling Company leased the building for storage for many years following the mill operations.”

Joe writes that, “Back in the 1940s, there were always 10 or 12 freight cars at the depot. New cars arrived almost daily and were immediately unloaded.” And “With the decline of the railroads in the 1950s, the Pond Street site was closed and sold to the First National Supermarket chain. The last freight train out of Pond Street was in late 1954.

The freight house and the mill were demolished in the summer of 1955 and the tracks removed then as well. The First National opened in October 1956, expanded with an addition in April 1968 and closed in July 1980. A couple other food stores operated for short periods of time, but were unsuccessful before giving way to the busy CVS.”

The Newburyport Blog

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

Category Archives: Culture

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

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 – 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

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

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

Newburyport “If This House Could Talk-2018”

Laroy S. Starrett – A Farmer, a Famous Business Man, an Inventor, whose First Patent was in Newburyport, MA

Newburyport — Resiliency

Newburyport, There Once was a Railroad Station on Pond Street where CVS is Now