I went and talked to a delightful friend of mine who loves and appreciates historic gardens and who is very down to earth, to get a reality check. The subject was/is how to live with historic preservation, only this time outside. As I said in an earlier post, I went on a hunt for historic […]
I started thinking about “memory” (see earlier entry) again and what it means to a sense of place and historic preservation, because I started to think about historic gardens, mainly along High Street, how beautiful they are, but whether or not they make sense in day to day living in the year 2007. All of […]
The photographs of historic Newburyport Garden plans and photographs of historic Newburyport gardens, stir up both a deep sense of nostalgia for something that beautiful, that cared for and that loved, as well as a certain practical impatience, that it could be very difficult, short of being part of a museum or a full time […]
My practical and down to earth friend, who loves historic gardens, wrote me an email concerning the previous post. As a professional Landscape Designer she did take a class in historic preservation and to quote my friend, “There are tons of good questions, and not nearly as many good answers,” (about how to integrate an […]
In addition to the architectural merit and grace of the house, the gardens behind it are of utmost interest. They are one of, if not THE, oldest surviving historic gardens on High Street. Designed by Henry Ward, personal friend of William Wheelwright’s, the gardens today retain much of the original layout. The earliest surviving photograph […]
The P. Preservationist has written a fascinating story about the effort to have High Street be a Local Historic District (LHD) in 1971. The P. Preservationist has gone to the Newburyport Archives and done some mega research. Everyone here at the Newburyport Blog, me and the frogs, are mighty impressed. This is definitely a must […]
Having thought so much about the historic preservation of Newburyport, MA, our small, seacoast New England city, I’ve always thought about residential and commercial architecture. I guess I’ve always taken the picturesque New England churches that populate Newburyport, MA and our surrounding communities and states, for granted. Maybe this needs some rethinking. After all in […]
I just made this amazing discovery. The Library of Congress has some amazing photographs that can be used in the public domain. I never knew about this until yesterday, even after all these years. One of the things that concerns me about Newburyport, MA in the year 2007, is that we often have very little […]
Obviously I liked the fact that the gardens at the Wheelwright House made Preservation Massachusetts 10 Most Endangered Resource list a lot. One of the things that I also like is that a realtor was one of the three people who nominated the Wheelwright Gardens. Why do I find this so enchanting? Let me digress […]
Preservation Massachusetts has named the Wheelwright Gardens as one of Massachusetts’ “10 Most Endangered Resources.” Well, yeh. They thought outside the box. Good for Preservation Massachusetts. The Wheelwright Gardens are the first gardens ever to be place on Preservation Massachusetts “10 Most Endangered Resources.” High Street won in 1999. The only roadway ever nominated. It […]
Sally Chandler © 2004 Wheelwright Historical Garden The gardens of Newburyport’s Wheelwright House have been nominated for Preservation Massachusetts’ (formerly called Historic Massachusetts) Ten Most Endangered Resource Program. Endangered Resource Program “chump change?” No. High Street was nominated and won in 1999. The only roadway ever nominated. It was a very, very big deal. (Fenway […]
The High Street website is down. It was hosted for free for 17 years by David Mack (thank you so much David). The original website was created by Missy Chabot (thank you so much Missy). I did save the text and images and I thought it would be fun to recreate some of the website […]
Every now and again the Newburyport Blog goes on a fun hunt. In 2007 I went on a hunt for all the stuff I could find about Newburyport’s historic gardens. And in 2012 it looks like I’m going on a hunt for Newburyport historic paintings. How fun. And in my hunt, I found another painting […]
In the Library of Congress, there is yet another set of wonderful photographs, this time of the “Pierce-Knapp-Perry House” at 47 High Street. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Historic American Buildings Survey Frank O. Branzetti, Photographer Nov. 1, 1940. This is a photograph of that magnificent house taken in 1940. Courtesy […]
I remember when the renovation to the Newburyport Bartlet Mall started. To say there was some opposition would be an understatement. Over the years the original design of the Bartlet Mall had been lost and an arbitrary and unplanned planting plan had gradually taken place. The plantings may have been randomly placed, but the whole […]
The Newburyport Daily News on Monday October 9, 2006 ran a cartoon by Gary Robertson (no, not our City Councilor Gary Roberts) on what is being proposed for the back of the Wheelwright property by Todd Smith and Peter Nordblom of Willis Lane LLC, or what is now being referred to by the developers as […]
The rape of the Ridge has begun. This is one of my worst nightmares for Newburyport, MA. The “Ridge” is the area on High Street on the upper side of the roadway that goes roughly from State Street to about Lime Street. It is one of the most beautiful and stately areas of High Street […]
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 William and […]
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 […]
Doing research for “If This House Could Talk” (which was/is awesome) I learned a lot about our neighborhood. Horton Street is a small Street that is just below High Street and runs between Federal and Lime Street. THE OLD ALMSHOUSE Most of that area was owned by the City of Newburyport and that is where […]