Quick History Stops: Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA | Part 2

In September 2024, I visited places and attended programs in Essex National Heritage Area as part of its annual event Trails & Sails. As my first day drew to a close, I made many quick history stops around the town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, so many that this requires a two-part post. The first half of this adventure appeared on Wednesday and included the harbor and train station, library, historic houses, memorials, church, and post office. This post will describe the original and the newest fire stations, another church, an American Revolutionary War era powder house, and other historic buildings.

Like many New England towns, the Manchester-by-the-Sea fire brigade was originally composed of community members who brought their leather buckets to the sight of fires. A formal fire fighting organization, called a “ladder and sail company” formed during the 19^th century. Its name came from the two important parts of fire fighting at the time: ladders stored in boxes around town so firefighters could get into the higher stories of buildings, and soaked sail cloth to stop fire spreading. The town built Seaside No. 1 in 1885 to store a horse-drawn fire engine, and the building was in use by emergency services until 1970, when the historical society took over. Today, the building is part of the Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum and houses a pair of antique fire engines. (I am a big fan of fire engines despite the noise and recently have seen examples at the Attleboro Area Industrial Museum, Mystic Seaport Museum, and Middleborough Historical Museum.)

As mentioned on Wednesday, this part of town is on the National Register of Historic Places as Manchester Village Historic District, and accordingly many historic buildings have received fun signs with their original owners, owner occupations, and construction dates. A sunny yellow house with cute dormers and a white picket fence was built by mariner William Hooper Jr. in 1805. His burial records show that he was about thirty-five at the time, and he only enjoyed the house for four years, as he died in 1809. Down the street was a white house with black shutters, a rooftop lookout, and its own white picket fence built by a shoreman, Major Israel Forster, in 1804. Unlike poor Hooper, Forester was about twenty-five years old when he built the house and lived to age eighty-three or eighty-four.

A bright red house was built by mariner Captain William Lee in 1796 at twenty-six years old. He had a similarly rough time like Hooper, as he was lost at sea at age forty-three. Some historic buildings did not have noticeable plaques. At 24 Bridge Street, a white Greek Revival style house has four prominent columns holding up a pediment above the front porch. The building is currently rented by luxury real estate agent Lanse Robb and formerly held the office of architect Stephen Roberts Holt, whose career included work at Colonial Williamsburg. Another interesting find was a slate blue house with unique triple dormers at 48 Central Street, which was across the road from the Hooper house and Forster house.

Like any good New England town, the center boasts not one but two classic white churches. Cornerstone Church was originally called First Christian Society and then First Baptist Church, putting it in opposition from First Parish down the street. The congregation began in during revivals in 1842, and has used only one building, its current church built in 1843. Nearby is the new fire station, although the term is relative, as the building was opened in 1975. The red brick design includes a three-truck garage with the doors often open so passers-by can admire the equipment. 

A few more buildings on Center Street caught my eye. One was a late 17^th or early 18^th century post-medieval style building with yellow and orange chrysanthemums in planters under the first story windows. The building was previously home to 7 Central Pub and then local chain Antique Table Restaurant but now available for sale. Next door is a three-and-a-half-story, blue-painted, Victorian style building with a variety of window sizes and a balcony on the third floor over the entrance. At the time of my visit, the building was home to a J. McLaughlin clothing store and a William Raveis real estate office. To complete the trifecta of design styles, just down the street was a rambling building with its earliest portion built by housewright John Knowlton in 1725. The three-story Georgian style building with a gambolled roof has a larger, more modern addition glommed onto the side. The interior of the original portion was under renovation during my visit, as the building has been turned into apartments.

Finally, the Revolutionary War era red brick powder house can only be reached by foot using the Powder House Hill Reservation Trails, which wind through fifty acres of forest. A handy map at the entrance on Pine Street prevents trailgoers from becoming lost and shows the quickest way to get to the powder house. Powder houses have become a trend on this blog, as I have seen them in Exeter, NH; Old York, ME; and Amesbury, MA. The townspeople built this powder house in 1810, gearing up for the War of 1812. The town restored the powder house in 2007 and added a plaque to the side of the little building to share its history. A lookout near the powder house includes a compass pointing the four cardinal directions along with indicating the locations of nearby towns Salem and Gloucester.