Is Newburyport Worth Preserving? My Castle or an Ounce of Prevention

A few random thoughts from yours truly on the LHD issue...

My Castle
An old cliche which has been bandied about quite a bit of late in relation to the Local Historic District issue is "a man's home is his castle."  In fact, I got an email today from a constituent who, although not living in the proposed District, referenced this very phrase to explain her opposition to the LHD.

Our home is our "castle" and there should not be dictates as to how we manage it.  There are enough governmental intrusions in our lives and we do not need anymore.

My own take is that if my house was my castle I'd be able to mow my lawn at 5AM, blast my electric guitar amplifier from my porch anytime I pleased, host a large permanent billboard on the side to extol my opinions to the world, and build a shed the size of the Astrodome in my back yard.

Another thought: if my home is my castle and a developer buys my castle, is it then the developer's castle?

Another thought: if I have my castle and my neighbor trashes his castle next door, is my enjoyment of my castle diminished in any way?

An Ounce of Prevention
An old cliche which I haven't heard as much lately but I think is equally or perhaps more relevant is "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Newburyport is not special because of its unique architecture; Newburyport is special because its ordinary architecture is still with us and makes us unique.  In most communities, the downtowns got bulldozed, old homes got trashed because someone thought that was easier, and we've lost a lot of our history.  I think it's a reasonable step to put minimal protections in place---the proposed LHD guidelines are the weakest and least intrusive of any of the over 200 Local Historic Districts in Massachusetts.

I want the grand-kids of our kids to be able to see in at least a few places what America was like 'back in the day'- a liveable and yes beautiful city.. Newburyport may or may not be one of those places depending on what the Council chooses to do in the next few weeks.

Below is the list of High Street properties in the Newburyport National Register Historic District, which is a different 'thing' than a Local Historic District.  For a more coherent explanation than I can give as to the difference, go here at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcpdf/difference.pdf

All the streets in the Register are here: http://www.newburyporthistoricdistrict.org/

Newburyport Historic District

District Data Sheets

*Status Code: The contributing status of structures has been assigned based on the retention of pre-1930 designs.

C          –  Buildings which clearly have major identifiable elements of their original (pre-1930) designs.

INT       – Those structures built after 1930 have been designated as intrusions.

MC       – Structures which appear to pre-date 1930 and which are similar in scale and materials to their neighbors, but which have undergone

major alterations such that their period of origin cannot be readily determined, designated           minor contributing structures.

High Street

Street Address	Map & Parcel	Historic Name	Date of Construction	Style/Comments	Status*
17	33-1		Ca 1790	Late Georgian twin-chimney gambrel	C
19	33-2		Ca 1800	Federalist	C
25	33-3		Ca 1890	Queen Anne	C
27	33-4		Ca 1925	Colonial Revival	C
29	33-5		Ca 1800; 1970’s	Federalist; alterations	MC
B & M Railroad -	Nbpt. City	Railroad Branch
31	33-7	March’s Hill Park
35	33-8		Ca 1845	Greek/Gothic Revival	C
37	33-9		Ca 1875	Italianate	C
	33-10	Tennis Court	Empty lot
39	33-10		Ca 1890	Queen Anne/House & Stable	C
41	33-11		Ca 1890	Queen Anne	C
43-45	33-18		Ca 1800; ca 1870; ca 1910	Federalist; Italianate; Colonial Revival/House & Carriage House	C
47	33-19	Pierce-Knapp-Healey House	1811	Federalist	C
47-1/2	33-19	Pierce-Knapp-Healey Carriage House	1811	Federalist	C
49	33-20		Ca 1780; ca 1850	Late Georgian; Greek Revival entry	C
51	33-21		Ca 1810; ca 1870	Federalist; Second Empire	C
53	33-22	Daniel Hale/John Weed House	Ca 1665-1700	Central-chimney timber frame	C
57	33-23		Ca 1800; ca 1870	Federalist; Italianate alterations	C
59	33-24 33-24A	Jacob Gerrish House	1839	Federalist/Greek Revival	C
61	33-25 33-26A	Gerrish-Hill House	1799	Federalist	C
63	33-27 33-26	Pike-Cushing-Bachman House	Ca 1810; ca 1860	Federalist; Italianate	C
65	33-28		19th c (?)	Carriage House	C
69	33-29		Ca 1865	Italianate	C
71	33-30		Ca 1950	Colonial Revival	INT
73	33-31	Ebenezer Wheelwright House & Carriage House	Ca 1800; ca 1860	Federalist; Second Empire	C
75	33-32	Stocker-Wheelwright House & Carriage House	Ca 1797	Federalist	C
77	33-33	Wheelwright-Richardson House & Carriage House	Ca 1806; ca 1908	Federalist; Federalist Revival	C
79	33-36	Livermore-Lunt-Barron House	1805; ca 1840	Federalist; Greek Revival	C
83-85	33-37	Osgood-Rogers House	1807; 1842	Federalist; Greek Revival	C
87	33-38	Greenleaf-Hale House & Stable	1799	Late Georgian/Federalist	C
89	33-39	Joseph Moulton House (half)	1810	Federalist	C
91	33-40	Joseph Moulton House (half)	1810	Federalist	C
93	33-41		Ca 1865	Second Empire	C
95	33-42	Gas station	Ca 1965	Colonial Revival	INT
97	33-43	Gas station	Ca 1965	Colonial Revival	INT
NO NUMBER	35-160	Bartlett Mall George Washington Statue & Face	Laid out 1800; 1878	J.Q.A. Wood Sculptor	C C
		Superior Court House (C. Bulfinch, architect – 1805)	1805; 1853	Federalist; Italianate	C
149	35-161	Kelly School (Rufus Sargent, architect)	1872	Italianate	C
153	33-162		Ca 1845	Sidehall Greek Revival	C
155	33-163		Ca 1750-1775	Central-chimney half house	C
157	35-164		Ca 1750-1775	Central-chimney half house	C
159	35-165		Ca 1750-1775	Central-chimney half house	C
161	35-166		Ca 1810	Federalist	C
163	35-167		Ca 1775; ca 1900	Timber frame half house; Queen Anne alterations	C
165-167	35-137		Ca 1940-1950	Astylistic	INT
-----------------------	-----------------------	U.S. Route 1 -----	-----------------------	-----------------------	----------------------
171-173	35-136	Stickney-Toppan House	Ca 1765	Central-chimney gambrel/Georgian	C
-----------------------	-----------------------	B & M RR bed ---	-----------------------	-----------------------	----------------------
179	37-1A	Tennis Court	Ca 1980		INT
181	37-2		Ca 1870	Italianate	C
183	37-3		Ca 1865	Second Empire	C
185	37-4		Ca 1810	Federalist	C
187	37-5		Ca 1855; ca 1895	Italianate; Queen Anne	C
189-191	37-6		Ca 1810	Federalist/House & Stable	C
193	37-7		Ca 1865	Italianate/House & Carriage House	C
195	37-8		Pre 1800; ca 1860; ca 1910	Twin-chimney timber frame; Italianate; Colonial Revival	C
197	37-9		Ca 1965	Contemporary	INT
201	37-10	Jackson-Dexter House	1771	High-style Georgian	C
203	37-11	Lowell-Tracy-Johnson House & Carriage House	1774	High-style Georgian	C
207	37-12		Ca 1865	Second Empire/House & Carriage House	C
209	37-13 37-14	Hoyt-Morrill House & Carriage House	1806	Federalist	C
211	38-38	Thomas Cutter House	Ca 1845	Greek Revival	C
213	38-39	Rev. John Dodge House	Ca 1890	Tudor Revival/Arts & Crafts	C
215	38-40		Ca 1965	Colonial Revival	INT
217	38-41		Ca 1965	Contemporary	INT
219			1983	Colonial Revival	INT
223	38-42	Goodwin-Hamilton House	Ca 1865	Victorian Gothic	C
225	38-43		Ca 1970	Colonial Revival	INT
REAR 225	38-48		Ca 1870	Italianate	C
	38-49		Ca 1870	Italianate/Carriage House	C
231	38-44		Ca 1970	Colonial Revival	INT
233	38-75			Late Georgian	C
241	38-76	Newburyport High School	1937	Colonial Revival	MC
249	39-60	Toppan-Tyng House	Ca 1799	Federalist	C
251	39-61		Ca 1800; ca 1860	Central-chimney timber frame; early Victorian	C
253	39-62		Ca 1775	Timber frame	C
255	39-63		Ca 1890	Queen Anne	C
257	39-64		Ca 1865	Second Empire cottage	C
259	39-65		Ca 1910	Arts & Crafts	C
261	39-89		Ca 1890	Queen Anne	C
263	39-90		Ca 1940	Contemporary	INT
265	39-112		Ca 1910	Arts & Crafts	C
267	39-113	Pillsbury Place	1651(plaque); ca 1910	Central-chimney timber frame; Colonial Revival	C
271-273	39-114		Ca 1925	Dutch Colonial Revival	C
275	39-115		Ca 1925	Arts & Crafts	C
279	40-17		Ca 1940	Colonial Revival	INT
281	40-18	Miltimore-Husk House & Carriage House	1809	Federalist	C
283	40-19	Andrew Miltimore House	Ca 1870	Second Empire cottage	C
285	40-19A		Ca 1865	Italianate/House & Carriage House	C
287	40-20		Ca 1870	Second Empire cottage	C
289	40-48		Ca 1920	Arts & Crafts Bungalow	C
293	40-49		Ca 1890	Queen Anne	C
295	40-50		Ca 1960	Colonial Revival	INT
299	40-51		Ca 1750-1775	High-style mid-Georgian	C
303	40-52		Ca 1875	Sidehall Italianate	C
305	42-41		Ca 1800	Federalist	C
309	42-42		Ca 1800-1825	Federalist	C
311	42-43		Ca 1875	Italianate	C
315	42-48		Ca 1775-1800	Central-chimney timber frame	C
317	42-49		Ca 1875; ca 1900	Sidehall Italianate; Queen Anne	C
319	42-50		Ca 1930	Colonial Revival	MC
321	42-51		Ca 1775	Mid-Georgian	C
325	42-52		Ca 1975	Contemporary	INT
329	42-53		Ca 1900	Queen Anne	C
331	42-54	Belleville School	Ca 1955		INT
335	42-55		Ca 1960	Contemporary	INT
337	42-58		Ca 1875	Sidehall Italianate	C
339	42-59	William Hopkinson House	Ca 1800	Federalist	C
341	42-84	Oliver Hale Building	Ca 1870	Astylistic Victorian	C
343	42-85		Ca 1775	Mid-Georgian	C
347	42-86		Ca 1810	Federalist	C
349	42-87	Francis Lord House	Ca 1775	Central-chimney timber frame	C
351	42-88		Ca 1895; ca 1950	Colonial Revival; contemporary addition	MC
357	42-123	Dodge-Cutting House	Ca 1800	Federalist	C
363	42-124	Griffith Home for Aged Men	1896	Colonial Revival	C
22-24	24-76		Pre 1900	astylistic	MC
26-28	24-75		Ca 1970	Contemporary	INT
32	24-74		Ca 1890	Queen Anne	C
34	24-73A		Ca 1800	Federalist	C
36	24-73		Ca 1800	Federalist	C
38	24-72		Ca 1845	Greek Revival	C
----------------------	-----------------------	B & M RR – Nbpt.	City RR -----------	----------------------	-----------------------
40	24-71	Hale-Dewint House	Ca 1870	Second Empire cottage	C
42	21-80		Ca 1870	Italianate	C
44	21-79		Ca 1850	Greek Revival/Italianate	C
46	21-78		Ca 1800	Federalist	C
48	21-57		Ca 1855	Sidehall Italianate	C
52	21-56	Moore-Lunt Double House	Ca 1860	Italianate	C
54	21-55	Moore-Lunt Double House	Ca 1860	Italianate	C
56	21-39	Capt. William Graves House	Ca 1850	Greek Revival	C
58	21-38		Ca 1750-1800	Timber frame gambrel	C
60	21-37	Mrs. Henry Titcomb House	Ca 1845	Greek Revival	C
66	18-5		Ca 1860	Italianate	C
68	18-4	Swett-Storey House & Carriage	1800	Federalist	C
70	18-3		Ca 1900	Queen Anne/Colonial Revival	C
72	18-2		Ca 1870	Italianate	C
74	18-1		Ca 1895	Queen Anne	C
76	18-80		Ca 1895	Queen Anne	C
78	15-17	Davenport-Greeley House & Carriage House	1808	Federalist	C
80	15-16		Ca 1870	Italianate; Second Empire/House & Carriage House	C
82	15-15		Ca 1870	Italianate	C
84-86	15-14		Ca 1875	Italianate/Victorian Gothic	C
88	15-3	William Hervey House	Ca 1865	Second Empire	C
90	15-2		Ca 1800	Federalist	C
94					C
96	15-1	Nelson-Wheelwright House	1801	Federalist	C
98	14-52	Cushing House	1808	Federalist	C
100	14-51		Ca 1900	Queen Anne	C
102	14-50	Tenny-Noyes Double House	1807	Federalist	C
104	14-49	Tenny-Noyes Double House	1807	Federalist	C
106-108	14-48		Ca 1850	Greek Revival	C
110	14-47	Pope-Moseley House	Ca 1855; 1895	Early Victorian; Colonial Revival	C
112	14-46	Pope-Moseley House	Ca 1855; 1895	Early Victorian; Colonial Revival	C
114	13-26	John Buntin House	Ca 1870	Italianate/Second Empire	C
116-118	13-25	Charles Coffin Row House	Ca 1845-1850	Greek Revival	C
120-122	13-24	Charles Coffin Row House	Ca 1845-1850	Greek Revival	C
124	13-23	Sewall Place	Ca 1814; ca 1890	Federalist; Federalist Revival	C
126	13-22		Ca 1845	Greek Revival/Double House	C
128	13-21		Ca 1845	Greek Revival/Double House	C
130	13-20		Ca 1845	Sidehall Greek Revival	C
132	13-19		Ca 1855; ca 1895	Italianate; Queen Anne	C
134-136	13-18		Ca 1845; 1910	Astylistic	C
138-140	13-17		Ca 1845; 1920	Astylistic	MC
140	46-1	Convent-Church of the Immac. Conception	Ca 1940	Colonial Revival	INT
144
146	46-6	Richard Brown House	1842	Greek Revival	C
148-150	46-7	Adams-Toppan House	1808	Federalist	C
152	46-43		Ca 1870	Italianate	C
154	46-42		Ca 1875	Italianate	C
156	46-41		Ca 1855	Italianate/Row House	C
158	46-40		Ca 1855	Italianate/Row House	C
160	46-39		Ca 1855	Italianate/Row House	C
162	46-38		Ca 1855	Italianate/Row House	C
164	46-37	St. Paul’s Episcopal Church & Chapel	1922 1863	Colonial Revival; Victorian Gothic	C
---------------------	-----------------------	-- U.S. Route 1 ---	-----------------------	-----------------------	-----------------------
180	49-81	Pettingill-Fowler House	1792	Late Georgian	C
---------------------	-----------------------	-- Boston & Maine	Railroad -----------	-----------------------	-----------------------
182	49-80	Wood-Moseley-Nason House	1792	Federalist	C
184	49-79		Ca 1950	Colonial Revival	INT
186	49-78	Rand-Fleming Double House	Ca 1790; ca 1840	Federalist; Greek Revival Alter.	C
188	49-77	Rand-Fleming Double House	Ca 1790; ca 1840	Federalist; Greek Revival Alter.	C
190	49-76	Morse-Learned House & Carriage	Ca 1800-1803; ca 1890	Federalist; late Victorian	C
192	49-75		Ca 1800-1830	Timber frame vernacular	C
194	49-74		Ca 1890	Queen Anne	C
196-198	49-16		Pre 1825	Timber frame vernacular	C
200	49-15		Ca 1870	Italianate/Double House	C
202	49-14		Ca 1870	Italianate/Double House	C
204	49-13		Ca 1870	Italianate	C
206-208	49-12		Ca 1850-1860	Greek Revival/Italianate	C
210	51-18		Ca 1845	Greek Revival	C
212	51-17	Nathaniel Horton House & Carriage	Ca 1870	Second Empire	C
216	51-16		Ca 1790	Twin-chimney gambrel/late Georgian	C
218	51-15	Buck-Withington House & Carriage	1797	Federalist	C
220	51-14		Ca 1895	Queen Anne	C
222	51-13		Ca 1875	Sidehall Italianate	C
224	51-12		Ca 1850-1870	Italianate/Double Cottage	C
226	51-11		Ca 1850-1870	Italianate/Double Cottage	C
230	51-10		Ca 1890	Queen Anne/House & Carriage House	C
232	51-9		Ca 1845	Sidehall Greek Revival	C
234	51-8		Ca 1845	Sidehall Greek Revival	C
236	53-74 53-73	Toppan-Whitney House	1807	Federalist	C
238	53-72	Swain-Bogardus House	1800	Federalist	C
240-242	53-71		Ca 1800; ca 1840	Federalist; Greek Revival	C
244	53-70		Ca 1845	Greek Revival/House & Carriage House	C
246	53-69		Ca 1925-1935	Arts & Crafts	MC
248	53-68		Ca 1960	Contemporary	INT
252	53-67		Ca 1845	Greek/Gothic Revival-sidehall cottage/House & Carriage House	C
254	53-66		Ca 1860	Italianate	C
256	53-17		Ca 1970	Colonial Revival	INT
258	53-16		Ca 1950	Colonial Revival	INT
260	56-37	Cartland-Whittier-Fitzgerald House	Ca 1800	Federalist	C
262	56-36	Thomas Coker House	Ca 1795	Late Georgian	C
264	56-35		Ca 1775-1800	Late Georgian	C
266	56-34A		Ca 1775-1800	Late Georgian	C
270	56-33	Pike-Parton House	Ca 1870	Italianate	C
272	59-71	Emery-Parton House	1796	Federalist	C
276	59-70		Ca 1850	Greek Revival/House & Carriage House	C
278	59-69		Ca 1960	Colonial Revival	INT
280	59-68		Ca 1895	Queen Anne	C
282-284	59-67		Ca 1810; 1900	Federalist; alterations	C
286	59-66	First Church of Christ Scientist	Ca 1940-1945	Colonial Revival	INT
294	62-48		Ca 1890	Queen Anne	C
296	62-47		Ca 1900	Colonial Revival	C
298	62-46		Ca 1930	Colonial Revival	C
300	62-45	Belleville Cong. Church Belleville Vestry	1867; ca 1867; ca 1930	Italianate; Greek Revival; alterations	C
304	62-44		Ca 1870	Sidehall Italianate	C
308	62-43		Ca 1870	Sidehall Italianate	C
310	62-42		Ca 1870	Italianate	C
312	62-41		Ca 1860	Italianate	C
314	62-40		Ca 1850	Sidehall Greek Revival/Italianate	C
316	66-7		Ca 1775	Central-chimney half house	C
320	66-6		Ca 1810; ca 1900	Federalist; Colonial Revival	C
322	66-5		Ca 1860	Sidehall Victorian cottage	C
324	66-4		Ca 1810	Federalist/Double House	C
326	66-3		Ca 1810	Federalist/Double House	C
328	66-2		Ca 1870	Sidehall Italianate	C
330-332	66-1	J. T. Rowe Shoe Building	Ca 1860	Astylistic Victorian	C
334	66-36		Ca 1870; ca 1960	Sidehall Italianate; Colonial Revival	MC
336	68-129	Gas station	Ca 1950	Contemporary	INT
340-344	68-128		Ca 1925	Colonial Revival	MC
346	68-127		Ca 1775	End chimney gambrel	C
348	68-126	Hale-Kinsman House	1800	Federalist	C
350	68-125	Josiah Little House	Ca 1780	Late Georgian	C
354-356	68-124	Orlando Merrill House & Stable	1791	Central-chimney timber frame	C
360	68-123	Little-Potter House & Barn	Ca 1790	Late Georgian	C
364	68-96		Ca 1875	Sidehall Italianate	C
366	68-94 68-95		Ca 1775	Timber frame vernacular	C
368	68-93		Ca 1860-1870	Italianate	C
372	68-92		Ca 1860	Greek Revival/Italianate	C
376	68-74		Ca 1800; ca 1850	Federalist; Italianate	C
384	68-73		Ca 1920	Arts & Crafts/Colonial Revival	C
386	69-89		Ca 1775-1800	End chimney gambrel	C
390	69-28	Atkinson Common	Donated 1873; laid out 1893-1896		C