Three Years Working on the Interactive Newburyport History Map

Things I’ve learned over the last 3 years working on the Newburyport Interactive History Map – Keeping the Story Alive.

Bossy Gillis, the conflict between the wealthy and the working class

I started the interactive history map 3 years ago in 2019 because the new folks in town didn’t know the basic stories, like Bossy Gillis’s Gas Station on the corner of State and High Streets, that is a story of the class warfare between the wealthy people along the Ridge and the rest of the city, working class folks. That dynamic in 2022 has changed.

Newburyport History Map

The ebb and flow of Newburyport’s well being

The story of Ferry Wharf that tells the ebb and flow of Newburyport’ success, decline and renewal, from the clipper ships and wealthy merchants, to the filling in of the wharfs near Market Square and the arrival the railroad and coal, to the decline and revival during Urban Renewal.

The story of Cashman Park, which was once just marsh and water, that became an eyesore. Of a second generation immigrant in Newburyport, Michael Cashman, who through hard work and smarts became one of the richest coal and oil dealers in Essex County. He had come up with a vision for the park in 1912, worked quietly for a decade and when he decided to serve his community and became mayor, he made Cashman Park a reality ten years later, a park that has enriched people’s lives for generations.

Henry Moulton who came to town in 1855, built himself a castle, wanted to build a whole community in the North End of the City, Moutonville, named after himself, and through bad luck, maybe hubris, maybe bad business, everything he built has faded from the landscape.

The story of Turkey Hill, which had been farm land since the 1600s. In the 1960s when the Newburyport’s Historic District had fallen on hard times, suburban development in the West End of the city seemed to be a way to save the town. Ten years later, the city decided to restore downtown, and what was a blighted area in 2022 is now an extremely desirable place to live.

Forgotten Men

The wealthy and important men that no-one thought would ever be forgotten. Stephen Hooper one of the wealthiest men in Newburyport, a merchant and shipbuilder who married into one of Newburyport’ most important families and lived on a house on the Mall. No-one remembers him or the house that he lived in. Charles Bliss, one of the most beloved citizens in Newburyport, who died in in 1920, in 2021 no-one knew that he even existed. I managed to find and connect with his descendants and get some family photos and hopefully he and Stephen Hooper will now be remembered.

The Women

All the stories of the women. Rebecca Rawson who was deceived by a cad and abandoned. Ethel Reed who earned brief international fame as a poster artist in 1895, who was gilted by a rich Bostonian, and who died at the age of 36 somewhere in London.

Abbie Foster, the daughter of a shoemaker, who married Daniel Foster later in life. After her husband died, after two years of marriage, she built a gorgeous fancy mansion at 74 High Street. She probably was not welcomed by the people who challenged her husband’s will and maybe not the Newburyport’s upperclass. She lived in the fancy mansion with her servant until her death in 1913. Foster Court is named after her, and the only indication of her fascinating life.

Ethel Parton who was a famous writer of children’s books about 19th-century life in Newburyport, which were published in the 1930s and 1940s. At 69, she turned to her family’s stories and Newburyport’s history and began writing books for young adults. Until recently her name and story and books have been completely forgotten.

Jane Pardee, sent to lunatic asylum, maybe for her money, to come back, marry her niece’s husband, who may have been one of the men to put her in the asylum; to die in child birth in1862, two years after her marriage. Her husband and all of his children from his first marriage got her entire estate.

Margaret Atwood whose story is one of resilience, strength, generosity to those less fortunate than her – orphan girls and Native Americans. She was an astute businesswoman who ran her husband’s business after his death, rebuilt the Atwood Wharf after the fire of 1811, and not only survived but flourished after many others suffered economic hardship. Atwood Street is named after her.

The interactive map and the website History~Newburyport that coordinates with it, now has more stories on its blog, is not about the rare and important folks, it is about the stories and people that are mostly forgotten, that I hope people will read and now remember. A lot of the stories and research have come about from looking at deeds and wills and old newspapers, where stories are often buried and hidden, like the shipyard at the end of Jefferson Street at existed at least as early as the 1700s. My plan is to keep on exploring and putting more stories on the Newburyport Interactive History Map and to see what I learn next.

Explore the Newburyport Interactive History Map – Keeping the Story Alive.

A list of all the entries (with links) on the Newburyport Interactive History Map can be found here.

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. Here is the link to all the puzzles, and here is a sample of some of the ones that I’ve created.

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

High Street is Wide Around Buck, Johnson and Kent Streets

A detail of a 1807 map that shows the wide part of High Street, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

A detail of a 1807 map that shows the wide part of High Street, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

After the fight to save High Street that began in 1998, the High Street Master Plan came into being and the first (and only phase) of the High Street Master Plan was implemented – the bike lanes. There was such a “hubbub” about the bike lanes (they’d been talked about for 6 years) that they were never actually finished, the High Street Master Plan was vetoed in mid-execution. However, it was finally passed unanimously by the Newburyport City Council, but funding had long since dried up for any further pursuit of the High Street Master Plan.

One of the areas that had long been of concern was the very wide part of the road between Buck, Johnson and Kent Streets. Two years ago the city got a grant to narrow that part of the road and emphasizing biking, walking and being able to safely cross that area of the street, which is really dangerous.*^* Geordie Vining of the Newburyport Planning Office asked Sharon Spieldenner of the Newburyport Archival Center if there was any reason why that particular part of High Street was so wide. It sounded like a really fun research project and I was “all in.”

This is what we’ve discovered so far.

“Tradition says that it (High Street) was an Indian trail in the beginning, as the low land along the river banks was marshy and sandy, hard to travel upon.” *

“ The country road, now High Street, was then a narrow path or way leading to the ferry at Carr’s island. Under the direction of the way wardens, or surveyors of highways, it was laid out, four rods wide, for a distance of six miles from the north bank of the Parker river (“High Street, beginning at the Parker River and extending to Three Roads so called.” **^^) (Currier is referring in this paragraph to the year 1649). Recently the road-bed had been greatly improved by reducing the grade in some places, and laying a firm and solid foundation of broken rock, covered with a finer coating of the same material, nearly the whole length of the road. When the work is completed, this ancient thoroughfare will be under the care and control of the Board of Highway Commissioners appointed by the state.” **

Boardman Street was laid out as a “way” in 1754 and was called Boardman lane, and then was called Boardman Street in 1764 (when the city separated from Newbury and was incorporated.) ***

Olive Street was laid out as a “way” as early as 1755, in 1794 it was called called Olive lane, and 1817 the town of Newburyport voted to accept Olive Street as a public road. ****

Kent Street has a very interesting story and may be part of the reason why High Street is so wide in that particular area.

“The brook ceased to flow before Old Newbury was settled. It drained the land between Kent and Olive Streets from the river to High Street, as well as the high land to the summit of the Ridge. It carried a great a great deal of water and many tons of silt to the landing at which it found its way to the Merrimac and tore out the earth a gully that reaches from Russia Street to Merrimac.” *^

It was the creation of Kent Street in 1788 that lead to the building along High Street in the North End, the previous lane/road had been described in the North End Papers as being very dangerous.

Drawing of Kent Street from the Newburyport Records 1764-1789, year 1788, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Drawing of Kent Street from the Newburyport Records 1764-1789, year 1788, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

“The pleasant locations upon the higher land away from the river were not desired or could not be obtained. The opening of Kent and the new streets above started an interest in real estate that lasted until the time of the war of 1812.

“In 1800 Olive lane and Kent Street ran from Merrimac to High. (Ash Lane and Merrill lane, the present Russia Street) No other lanes were open in the whole tract of land from Merrimac to High and from Olive to Kent streets.” **^

203 High Street, was built in 1774, it was owned by John Lowell, and is known as the Lowell-Tracy-Johnson House.

201 High, the Jackson-Dexter House (Lord Timothy Dexter) was built in 1771 and is near what is now Dexter Lane.

At that time 201 and 203 High were probably on the edge of Newburyport, the rest of High Street being trees, farms and the occasional slaughtering house for farm animals. 203 High Street is just at the edge of where the roadway widens.

The town records discuss what is then Woodman lane (a version of what is now Kent Street) in 1765, the comments appear to be pretty critical of the effort by the town of Newbury to create Woodman lane – “it is of no use to the town,” “but as it is now esteemed to be none (no service to the town).” ***^

In 1765 the selectmen recommend a new road, however, Kent Street did not get built until 1787-1788, twenty years later (things took time to get accomplished back then as well apparently.) ***^

Sharon Spieldenner found a map from 1807 that shows the widening around Buck and Kent Street.

Detail of a 1807 map that shows the wide part of High Street, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Detail of a 1807 map that shows the wide part of High Street, Courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

218 High Street, now on the corner of Buck and High was built in 1797 by Captain John Buck. Buck Street was created in 1800, it sits right at the edge of the existing street right where the roadway begins to widen.

218 High Street, Newburyport MA

218 High Street, Newburyport MA

209 High Street, now on the corner of Johnson and High, was built in 1806 also sits on the edge of where the roadway is now. So it appears that we have at least circumstantial evidence that High Street was wide in that area as early as 1797 – 1806, over 2 centuries ago.

209 High Street, Newburyport MA

209 High Street, Newburyport MA

The wide part of High Street and 213 and 223 High Street from today’s city map.

The wide part of High Street and 213 and 223 High Street from today’s city map.

1924 Assessors Map

1924 Assessors Map showing the wide part of the road and 213 and 223 High Street

1924 Assessors Map showing the wide part of the road and 213 and 223 High Street

Survey from 1961 of 213 High Street, showing the wide part of the road.

Survey from 1961 of 213 High Street, showing the widen part of the road.

Survey from 1961 of 213 High Street, showing the wide part of the road.

In 1857 there is a survey of what is now 213 and 223 High Street. The land fits perfectly into the land lots (that have now been partially broken up) that exist in today’s city’s map. It shows the angle of the roadway exactly as it is today. So we have absolute proof that High Street was wide in that area for 150 years. (Carrie Keville from the Newburyport Assessor’s Office helped me find the survey.)

Survey from 1857 of what is now 213 and 223 High Street that proves that the roadway was as wide as it is today.

Survey from 1857 of what is now 213 and 223 High Street that proves that the roadway was as wide as it is today.

This is a topographical map from the city that I’ve “tweaked” and shows how the “brook” could have gone down the bottom of 213 High and/or Johnson Street, down what is now Kent Street causing the “gully” as well as possibly down what is now Buck and Olive Streets. It is a theory as to why that part of the roadway may be extra wide in that particular spot.

Topographical map showing the area around Bunk, Johnson and Kent Streets

Topographical map showing the area around Buck, Johnson and Kent Streets

It appears that High Street has been wide at Buck, Johnson and Kent Streets for at least 150 years, and it also appears that the street could have been that wide in that particular area for two centuries.

*An Informal History of the Downtown Streets of Newburyport 1972, Section on High Street by Josephine P. Driver, Page 131.

(“Josephine P. Driver (1893-1983), one-time curator of the Historical Society of Old Newbury, reminiscences about her childhood memories of her uncle, Elisha P. Dodge, a well-known Newburyport mayor and businessmen, published in Captains, Clams, and Cobblestones, 1977. Her father, Henry B. Little, was a long-time president of the Institution for Savings bank. Mrs. Driver was one of the many citizens and driving forces who advocated for the historic restoration of Newburyport’s downtown during the 1960s.” – Clipper Heritage Trail – Ghee Woodworth)

** John J. Currier, The History of Newbury, Mass.,1635 – 1902, Pages 414 -415

*** John J. Currier, History of Newbury, Mass., 1635 – 1902, Page 342

**** John J. Currier, History of Newbury, Mass., 1635 – 1902, Page 342

*^ North End Paper 1618 – 1880, Newburyport, Massachusetts: Development of the North End of the City, by Olive Bl Merrill, Transcribed by Margaret Pecham Motes, Pages 81 and 82.

**^ North End Paper 1618 – 1880, Newburyport, Massachusetts: Development of the North End of the City, by Olive Bl Merrill, Transcribed by Margaret Pecham Motes, Page 110.

***^ Newburyport Records 1764-1789, year 1765, Vol 1, page 38

**^^ John J. Currier, The History of Newbury, Mass.,1635 – 1902, Footnote, Page 90

*^* The Safe Streets to School project is the incentive for the narrowing of this particular area of High Street. As I understand it the goal is that the “overall safety benefits should be considered in balance with historical objectives.”

Editor’s Note – Kent Street:

Woodman’s Lane, now Kent Street, was probably laid out as early as 1675. In the Newburyport Records 1764-1789 Vol 1, page 38, there is a mention of “an agreement between Colonel Kent, Mr Woodman and the selectman,” the dates that are given for this agreement are 1722/23. It appears that over the years the town was struggling with this part of what is now lower Kent Street, and that the opinion in 1765 is that the road that was created around 1723 was “of no use to the town.“ *^^*

The two drawings below are what lower Kent Street – then a combination of Woodman’s Lane and Merrill Lane, which was trying to negotiate around the gully, once looked like.

Here are two images from the Newburyport Records 1764-1789, Vol 1, page 222, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Map of Wood’s Lane and Merrill Lane 1775 from the Newburyport Records 1764-1789, Vol 1, page 222, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Map of Wood’s Lane and Merrill Lane 1775 from the Newburyport Records 1764-1789, year 1775, Vol 1

Detail of the map of Wood’s Lane and Merrill Lane, from the Newburyport Records 1764-1789, year 1775, Vol 1, page 222, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center

Detail of the map of Wood’s Lane and Merrill Lane 1775 from the Newburyport Records 1764-1789, year 1775, Vol 1.

And from the survey of Kent Street in 1788 it looks like lower Kent Street was completely re-configured, moving the entire lower part of the roadway north of the existing street.

Detail of the survey of Kent Street in 1788, it looks like lower Kent Street was completely re-configured, moving the entire lower part of the roadway north of the existing street. *^*^

Detail of the survey of Kent Street in 1788, it looks like lower Kent Street was completely re-configured, moving the entire lower part of the roadway north of the existing street.

*^^* John J. Currier, History of Newbury, Mass., 1635 – 1902, Page 344

*^*^ Detail of the drawing of Kent Street from the Newburyport Records 1764-1789, year 1788, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center.

Editor’s Note:

This is a detail of really early map courtesy of Sharon Spieldenner of the Newburyport Archival Center. A guess on the date might be around 1720.

A detail of a really early map courtesy of Sharon Spieldenner of the Newburyport Archival Center. A guess on the date might be around 1720.

A detail of a really early map courtesy of Sharon Spieldenner of the Newburyport Archival Center. A guess on the date might be around 1720.

This is a theory/guess by Rick Taintor as to why the High Street is so wide between Kent and Buck Street.

“The road was laid out at a specific width, but probably wasn’t engineered with curving sidelines. I’ve drawn two pairs of straight lines representing a theoretical original layout, meeting at an angle just west of Johnson Street.

However, the early users probably cut corners, especially when pulling wagons rather than just riding horses, and particularly where no development had yet occurred. Over time, the actual roadbed could have shifted to a smooth curve between Kent and Johnson, so the traveled way might have moved out of the original sidelines. At some later date, the angle of the sideline on the north side of the road could have been adjusted to ensure that the right of way encompassed the traveled way.”

A drawing of a theory of why the High Street is so wide between Kent and Buck Street.

A drawing of a theory of why the High Street is so wide between Kent and Buck Street.

From John J. Currier “History of Newburyport, Mass: 1764 – 1905” Vol I, page 22, the map was drawn in 1795 but represented Newburyport in 1764. High Street bends at Woodman’s lane. Reproduced from the Massachusetts Archives (Town Plans, vol II., Part I.)

From John J. Currier “History of Newburyport” Vol I page 22, the map was drawn in 1795 but represented Newburyport in 1764. High Street bends at Woodman’s lane.