E-Newsletter | September 25, 2020 |
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On the Waterfront: Part II |
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Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Newburyport waterfront developed from a simple riverbank fishing spot into a center of industry and trade. The Merrimack’s gently sloped bank, the river’s deep channel, and the protected but accessible location all united to create a shipbuilding mecca and international trading hub. |
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Newburyport waterfront, circa 1890s. From the collections of the Museum of Old Newbury. |
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The golden age of the clipper ship, Newburyport’s most lucrative product, began to wane in the mid 19th century, and with it the town’s potential for future prosperity. By 1851, Newburyport was officially minted as a city and the community began looking to new forms of industry to reinvent the waterfront. The railroad, a hallmark of the Industrial Revolution, was a novel form of shipping that was literally sweeping the nation and facilitated unprecedented land-based trade throughout the United States.
While railroads rose to prominence, large-scale factories also were being built in Newburyport’s waterside business district and farther upriver in cities like Haverhill, Lawrence and Lowell. Most of these operations ran on coal, which needed to be sourced and stored somewhere. The waterfront was the ideal location to transfer coal, brought in on ships, to railway cars. It was then then shipped all throughout New England by train and sometimes up the Merrimack by barge.
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Coal runway, from Custom House. Photo courtesy of the Archival Center at the Newburyport
Public Library.
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The waterfront provided some infrastructure needed to off-load the coal, but extensive storage and transport facilities were built in order to keep up with the changing economic landscape. In 1872, the city started the process of filling in the area where the wharves and mudflats were, in order to accommodate train yards and shipping.
The new track, which needed to be laid on level ground, was brought from the South End of town. Many of the old wharves and docks were covered over, forever burying them below a myriad of storage structures, commercial buildings and an increasing web of metal. The largest structure was an enormous “coal pocket” building that stood near where the Harbormaster is today. Soon, the Newburyport City Railroad was established, and freight service began, kickstarting the city’s economy again.
Boats were still being built in the Newburyport shipyards, but their purpose and materials changed along with the Industrial Revolution. The age of sail diminished as steam ships and barges became more relevant and profitable. Imports and exports of raw materials and general supplies also continued, despite the coal industry having the most impact on the changing waterfront.
Soon there were five coal distribution companies in Newburyport, the largest of which was Philadelphia and Reading Coal & Iron Company. The city had a ready supply of cheap labor as large waves of immigrants, most notably the Irish, moved into the dock areas. These workers, known as “heavers or shovelers” would off-load large quantities of coal into the storage containers or “pockets,” working long hours for low pay. Once ready to be shipped, trains were lined up next to the pockets and coal was loaded into their compartments via shoots.
Despite this drastic change to the infrastructure of waterfront, the economic landscape was changing fast. By the early 1900s, antitrust laws broke up the coal manufacturing industry, which had a ripple effect on Newburyport. Two large coal pockets caught fire in quick succession and Philadelphia and Reading Coal & Iron Company abandoned their location. This began the slow deterioration of the waterfront over the next few decades. Railroad tracks and warehouses were left to ruin, paving the way for Urban Renewal in the 1960s.
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This photo, taken before 1881, shows the back of what is now the Firehouse Center for the Arts in downtown Newburyport. The building was located on the bank of the Merrimack River Today, all of the land is filled, and a waterfront grassy park occupies this space. Photo courtesy of Joe Callahan/Newburyport Daily News.
Read the Newburyport Daily News article about the early growth of the waterfront here.
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(Editor's note: A special thanks to Marge and Skip Motes for their exhaustive research on this and many other subjects in Newburyport’s history. Emily Hoffman contributed to this story.)
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Support the Museum of Old Newbury: Give a Mature Clivia a New Home
Two mature Clivia plants have been generously donated to the museum by MOON member Delores White and have been lovingly nurtured by her for more than 20 years. Now they are in search of new homes.
The 19" plant is thriving in a lovely white ceramic pot. The 30" beauty, currently in a nursery pot, could easily be split into two plants.
Clivia, also known as a Kaffir lily and Bush lily, is a perennial plant that is also an herbaceous evergreen. Considered an ornamental plant, it can thrive outside during the summer months. The vibrant orange bloom is trumpet-shaped and grows in groups on the glossy strap-like stems.
The plant originates in the subtropical forests on the eastern cape of South Africa. The unique flowers caught the attention of English explorers traveling to foreign destinations during the 1800s.
Clivia were first taken to Europe in 1820 by British explorers William Burchell and John Bowie. Kew Botanist John Lindley named the flower after Lady Charlotte Florentia Clive, Duchess of Northumberland.
Susan C.S. Edwards, executive director, Museum of Old Newbury, explains, "We are hoping to make this a small fundraiser for the museum in lieu of a fall plant sale."
We are running this similar to a silent auction. Please submit your bid to info@newburyhistory.org before noon, Tuesday, September 29, 2020.
All participants will receive updated emails with the current highest bids before noon on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Winning bidders will be notified by close of day Tuesday. The highest bid will select their plant first.
Bidding on either plant starts at $30.
(Editor's note: Some information from Traditional Gardening® Magazine. Sample photo of Clivia in bloom shown at bottom.)
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"Yeat Yeat, Don't Tell Me!" airs 10th show!
"Is it really 10?" asks Custom House Maritime Museum's Jack Santos, of co-host Colleen Turner Secino, with the Museum of Old Newbury.
It sure is. And the questions continue to enlighten and befuddle participants. "They are hard...and we know the answers," Turner Secino quips.
Try your hand at episode 10's queries here. Get the answers here or click on the image above and watch the show.
Join us next Friday at noon, October 2, 2020, for "Yeat Yeat, Don't Tell Me!" Add this Zoom link to your calendar.
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Puzzle Me This...Here Comes the Sun (Hotel)
In 1807, Akin created a handbill, commissioned by Jacob Coburn, proprietor for many years of the Sun Hotel.
The image, which appeared in the Newburyport Herald, shows the former Tracy mansion that had been purchased by James Prince in 1806. Prince leased the mansion house, carriage house and stables to Coburn before returning to the property in 1810 and making it his home for nearly thirty years.
James Akin (1773 -1846) was from South Carolina and worked in Philadelphia and Newburyport. He was well known for his political cartoons including one entitled "Infuriated Despondency" depicting an argument Akin had with Edmund March Blunt, publisher of the American Coast Pilot, in Newburyport.
Copper Plate of the Sun Hotel, Newburyport, 1807, by James Akin, engraver, from the collections of the Museum of Old Newbury.
Click on the image to begin.
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Something is Always Cooking at the Museum
A sweet and savory dish with Serbian origins, this egg and cheese delight can be served as a vegetarian entrée, for brunch with a side of fruit or cut into squares for a buffet. Marilyn Stone's version comes together in a casserole dish and creates its own crusty edge.
Presnac
6 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
4 ounces cream cheese
8 ounce carton small curd cottage cheese
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup flour
Beat eggs, milk, sugar and salt in 2-quart deep casserole dish. Cut cream cheese into small cubes, add. Add Monterey Jack cheese and cottage cheese, baking powder and flour. Mix well. Bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes.
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During this difficult period of COVID-19, we rely on your support more than ever. We are working to reschedule many of the programs that we have had to postpone, as well as develop new, online programs for you to enjoy and keep us connected. We hope, if you are able, that you will consider a donation to the museum. Thank you for your continued support.
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generosity of our sponsors:
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Museum of Old Newbury
98 High Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
978-462-2681
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