EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Marked Bricks Recovered from a Firehouse Built Near the Newburyport, Massachusetts Waterfront in 1846

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Marked Bricks Recovered from a Firehouse Built Near the Newburyport, Massachusetts Waterfront in 1846

February, 2015, brought parts of New England to its knees with a domino affect of major snow storms that wreaked havoc in the greater-Boston-area (and all-over New England), which set a new snow total marking it the snowiest winter in history since snowfall records have been kept. Naturally, the eye-popping snow totals and snow drifts caused damage to some buildings.

I work full-time in television in Newton, Massachusetts (just west of Boston) and it seems like every winter roof collapses are a common story in weekly newscasts in January, February and even sometimes in March. It is also a common path for news helicopters in those months hovering over unfortunate people's homes and businesses trying to captivate the audience at home with the aw of a caved in roof. It's possible that witnessing these images each year has turned into kind of an obsession of mine to make sure that my roof and my parent's roof is shoveled off after every major snow storm. It's not something that everyone thinks of when it snows out. I used to believe that there had to have been something wrong with the roof for it to cave in; however, I have quickly learned that the weight of snow is not healthy for any roof.

Unfortunately, there were, yet again, roof collapses this year. Many tourists, visitors, residents and past residents of Newburyport, Massachusetts may remember the old 'Mr. India' restaurant on Merrimac Street on the corner of the Route 1 bridge that crosses the Merrimack River into Salisbury, Massachusetts. If you remember this restaurant - you probably recall that this business operated in a brick building. This building was originally built by the city as a fire station in 1846. It sat next to a railroad bridge that hasn't been used in roughly a century. In recent times, there has been a battle going on between the building's owner, the city and preservationists, who wished to save the building. The owner wanted to tear it down in order to build a new home. Sadly, the weight of the snow last month caused the roof to give way forcing the building to be condemned by the city. It was immediately demolished. I really wanted to grab a brick from this building - I thought the bricks were likely supplied by a local nineteenth-century brick-maker. However, I just couldn't find the time to go down and investigate with my work schedule - and also, the amount of snow that kept falling made it pretty-much impossible to walk around the area. I drove past the site only a few days after it had been announced that the building was deemed unsafe - and everything was gone. It appeared like an empty lot. I figured I had missed my opportunity.

Originally a Firehouse Built in 1846

The Damage to the Roof Caused by the Snow is Seen

Photo Courtesy: Newburyport Daily News - Newburyport & Lawrence, Mass.

Originally a Firehouse Built in 1846 Under Demolition in Newburyport, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Newburyport Daily News - Newburyport & Lawrence, Mass.

Originally a Firehouse Built in 1846 Under Demolition in Newburyport, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Newburyport Daily News - Newburyport & Lawrence, Mass.

Originally a Firehouse Built in 1846 Under Demolition in Newburyport, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Newburyport Daily News - Newburyport & Lawrence, Mass.

Since the weather has warmed up here in New England in recent days - I took my nephew, Jason down to check out the area today in hopes that we may retrieve a single brick as a memory of the history behind this building that once stood. That brick would also serve as an example to me for a brick-maker that may have once worked in Newburyport during a period when red earthenware was still regularly produced in Essex County, Massachusetts. Surprisingly, we found two whole bricks - and, they were both marked. I have not done any research, yet, into who these marks may have belonged to, but I am hoping that they may belong to a local brick-maker. I personal enjoy bricks because they were made from the same clay that traditional red earthenware potters would have used and there are even instances in this country where traditional redware potters also produced bricks. There are also instances when traditional brick-makers experimented with red earthenware.

After we found these two bricks, we continued to scour the area, I think we searched the lot pretty-well and all we saw was broken bricks and sewer tile. We had hoped that there may have been some remains from the firefighters (i.e. pottery, ceramics, glass, etc.), who once worked there, but we didn't find anything on the surface.

In case you were curious, this lot will have a new home built on top of it later this year. It's surprising that we didn't see more. This lot is also located near Newburyport's original waterfront that operated in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. This area was made famous for its China Trade and clipper ships that helped build many of the huge Federal Period homes that line the city today. There may be more there; although, we didn't see any evidence to support the idea.

How the Lot Appears Today After the 1846 Firehouse was Removed

Some of the Debris Left from the 1846 Firehouse

My Nephew, Jason with One of the Marked Bricks We Found

How the Lot Appears Today After the 1846 Firehouse was Removed

Notice the Line on the Old Railroad Wall Where the Brick Building Touched it

Here are the two bricks that we found; does anyone recognize the maker or makers? One brick is marked with a 'star' and a 'B' - the other brick appears to be marked with a 'WSB.'