Quick History Stops: Newbury & Newburyport, MA | Part 2

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Besides visiting Historic New England’s Dole Little House, Museum of Old Newbury, and the Lower Green Area of Newbury, I also made several quick history stops while visiting the Newbury & Newburyport region, as I was unable to see these stops my previous trip to the area in September 2022. Locations included a house and a memorial in the Upper Green Area of Newbury, along with historic buildings and one live horse in Downtown Newburyport.

A Real Live Horse in Downtown Newburyport; a pretty black horse about 15 hands high eats clover from a wooden bucket where she is tied.

Upper Green Area of Newbury

Now part of the Newbury Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, early European colonists in 1642 designed the Upper Green to be the center of town with the added bonus of an open space for their militia to train. Highlights of the Upper Green include the uniquely designed Short House and a memorial to American Revolutionary War soldiers who served under Benedict Arnold and camped on the green in 1775.

Short House

These privately owned home is not open for tours but permanently protected by Historic New England (HNE) in partnership with their current owners through the Preservation Easement Program, and the tenant-guide at Dole-Little House gave guests a sheet with information. This unusual building is located on High Road at Rolfe’s Lane, kitty-corner to the Upper Green, which now holds a child-sized baseball field. A gravel parking lot near the field is the perfect parking spot to cross a pair of streets with pedestrian lights and enjoy this house. Built around 1732, the Georgian style Short House has red brick walls on opposite ends of the building perpendicular to the main street. On the sides facing both towards and away from the street, the house is made of wooden clapboard painted a rich blue. The house rose to fame with the development of print culture in the 20th century and became “one of Newbury’s most familiar architectural icons” according to HNE. Today, the original front door lives in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York City.

Short House in Newbury, MA; a two-story deep blue clapboard house with a bright red double door and a red brick right wall.

Benedict Arnold Encampment Sign

The memorial consists of a bronze plaque affixed to a large rock. The plaque describes the importance of the spot, where “three companies of riflemen under Daniel Morgan, a part of the command of Benedict Arnold” camped from September 17 through September 19 in 1775. The companies consisted of about 1100 men who went on to boat up the Merrimack River (spelled Merrimac on the sign), which ends in Newburyport. Their goal, according to the sign, was to reach the Kennebec River, which in no way connects to the Merrimack River. About half the crew died en route, and the remainder ended up in Quebec, where they fought alongside the troops of doomed General Richard Montgomery and lost horribly. The Major Reuben Colburn House State Historic Site in Pittston, ME — which I visited in late September 2022 — is home of the Arnold Expedition Historical Society, which has extensively documented this disaster.

Benedict Arnold Encampment Monument in Newbury, MA; a granite oblisk-like stone with a bronze plaque affixed to the side. Plaque from Benedict Arnold Encampment Monument in Newbury, MA; a bronze plaque shaped like a scroll with an engraving of ships above the scroll and laurel wreate over the ships. The text on the scroll describes the mission of Arnold's soldiers.

Downtown Newburyport

Downtown Newburyport stretches from State Street to Market Square and is part of the Newburyport Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This area was first built by European colonists in 1655 and acted as a center of maritime trade before the American Revolutionary War to around the War of 1812, when the Jeffersonian Embargo Act of 1807 ruined many businesses and caused an economic depression, while The Great Fire of 1811 burned down remaining businesses. Fortunately, the area rebounded after extensive restoration in the 1970s to become a cute shopping area. Historic structures on this road include Institution for Savings, Dalton House, and Tracy Mansion.

Institution for Savings in Newburyport

On January 31, 1820, Newburyport received a charter to open its first bank, making it the third savings bank in the state of Massachusetts. About two months later, on April 5, the bank began in the Selectmen’s Office “at the corner of State and Essex Streets” according to a plaque near the current bank building. This structure was completed on April 16, 1871, fifty-one years after the bank opened. More recently, in 2013, the Institution declared the bank building to be its permanent headquarters, and in 2020, the bank celebrated its 200th anniversary. Standing on the opposite side of a narrow sidestreet is a thirty-foot tall free-standing clock tower designed by local architect Charles Nutter of Woodman Associates Architects, built by Murphy Construction Company, and funded by the bank in 2010.

Institution for Savings in Newburyport, MA; a tall, Neo-Classical reddish-brown building with a green roof. Above the orangey wood doors are golden letters reading Institution for Savings. Large pillars flank either side of the door and tall windows.

Dalton House

Michael Dalton built this classic two-story Georgian style home in 1746 when he was thirty-seven years old. His excellent construction is overshadowed by his son, Tristram Dalton, who was elected as one of the earliest Massachusetts Senators to the United State Senate. Famous visitors at this house included George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. A metal informational sign outside the house details its history, and the house itself is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Dalton House in Newburyport, MA; A two-story whitewashed clapboard Georgian style house with black shutters and a modern American flag hung over the front door. Dalton House Sign; a metal sign erected by the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission describing the history of Dalton House. The shield of Massachusetts is at the top of the sign between the dates 1630 and 1930.

Tracy Mansion & Newburyport Public Library

In 1771, Patrick Tracy built a house as a gift for his son, Nathaniel Tracy, which apparently was a trend among the wealthy maritime elite. Nathaniel himself had a good chunk of change, as he owned fifty ships and hired captains to become privateers, capturing about a hundred and twenty other boats from England. The Tracy family was friends with many other wealthy, politically influential people from the American Revolutionary Period. George Washington and the the Marquis de LaFayette visited, perhaps after their stop with Tristram Dalton, along with Benedict Arnold, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and John Quincy Adams. Unfortunately, Nathaniel lost all his money after the war and sold his home to pay his debts. The building spent brief stints as a hotel, a bowling alley plus saloon, and a dentist office. Meanwhile, Newburyport founded its own library in 1854 and opened a public version the next year, using Newburyport City Hall as a temporary location. After the Civil War, in 1865, the library relocated to the Tracy Mansion. The library quickly grew in size with the addition of Simpson Annex in 1881. The latest addition, part of a $6.8 million renovation opened on May 6, 2001. The new structure matches the red brick and Georgian style details of the original mansion while taking advantage of early 21st century construction technology.

Sign for Newburyport Public Library; a black sign with serif golden lettering describin the history of the library and famous Americans who stayed there during its time as a private home. Tracy Mansion in Newburyport, MA; a two-story, red brick, late Georgian style mansion with large floor-to-ceiling windows. Newburyport Public Library Modern Extension; a three-story, red brick, building blending early 21st century architecture with Colonial Revival embellishments. The new brick perfectly color matches the original house.
Location: Newburyport, MA, USA