A Red Earthenware Pot Dug in the Backyard at 28 Kent Street in Newburyport, Massachusetts

The first home that my parents restored in Newburyport, Massachusetts was located in the center of the city at 28 Kent Street, which is a historic street; although, most streets, in Newburyport are historic for any given number of reasons. I don't know the history of ownership for this house, but I had always believed that it dated from the late-eighteenth or early-nineteenth-century; however, the city has the home listed as a later building in its historic property surveys.

The information that the city has on record states that, "This large Greek Revival dwelling was built between 1850 and 1870 (they list it as circa 1850-1851). Although, a later example, the house does have many of the features characteristic of the style." The city goes on to further describe this house as a building that was originally built as a boarding home for nearby mill workers in the nineteenth-century. Personally, I don't feel this information is correct - I believe the original owner of this house was a person, who had some means of wealth in respect to the size of the house, the location to the waterfront, the many fireplaces and the architecture that is found throughout the house. The survey may need to be updated since this information was filed on July 28, 1980.

I looked at some of the other properties in Newburyport that I am familiar with, which were also surveyed in 1980 - and, I found questionable dates with some of those homes, too. None-the-less, this is an old home with a huge attic. I always felt it dated from the 1790 to 1810 period, but it could be a little later, as well. I'll ask my parents about it and see what they have to say.

 28 Kent Street - Newburyport, Mass.

Photo Taken on December 28th, 2015

This was the First Home that My Parents Restored in Newburyport, Mass.

 Another View of the House

Another View of the House

When I was reviewing this survey, I was surprised to see a photo that accompanied it, which was taken in 1980 - I believe my parents were still living in this house during that year. They eventually moved onto another project in the city, but I'm fairly certain that this was still their home in 1980. Unfortunately, the center chimney has been removed in recent years during a renovation - the chimney was attached to a few huge fireplaces on the first and second floors.

The black and white photograph shows, what I believe to be a friend of my father's pickup truck with a cap over the bed - and, my mother's Volkswagen Beetle, which is parked on the street in front of the house. This is a photo that I have never seen before - understandably, I was surprised to see it - it's kind of exciting. In fact, I was barely born in 1980. It's exciting, the stories that a still photograph, like this can potentially tell. I'm guessing that I'm somewhere in that house when this picture was taken.

My parents actually paid for this house with an antique inkwell collection that my mother had assembled in the 1970's. They sold the collection to pay for the house and its restoration. That inkwell collection was the foundation that helped fund future investments after they moved on from this home.

My mother collected inkwells, while my father collected antique bottles. They were also buying and selling antiques during this period - I can only imagine what must have been in this home, which was picked locally that they no longer own today.

Picking antiques in the 1970's and the early-1980's in coastal Massachusetts was a lot different than it is today. Many of the objects that were removed from these homes, during this period, have since gone onto private collections and national museums. My parents didn't have an interest in redware, but I assume they must have had the opportunity to buy some great red earthenware and even stoneware objects in the Newburyport-area during this period. I've heard some of the longtime collectors tell me stories about what they found during these years. In fact, one of the most important private collections in New England, which is still completely intact today was formed nearly entirely from picking Essex County, Massachusetts homes in the 1970's, the 1980's and the 1990's. Curiously, I wonder what kind of pottery was used at 28 Kent Street in the nineteenth-century. Pretty-much every home in this area must have used some kind of utilitarian pottery.

28 Kent Street Shown in a 1980 Survey Conducted by the City of Newburyport, Mass.

Page 1 of the Survey

They Survey was Conducted for the Newburyport Historical Commission
Courtesy: City of Newburyport, Mass.

Page 2 of the Survey

Courtesy: City of Newburyport, Mass.

28 Kent Street Pictured in 1980

When I originally established this website, three-years ago - one of the introductory articles discussed a red earthenware pot that my father dug in the backyard at 28 Kent Street. I did not show the house in that article. I had always felt that this pot was a late-eighteenth-century object from one of the local potteries, which operated in Newburyport from the 1740's to around 1805. Characteristically, that is how I would define this object. There were also not any known red earthenware potters in Newburyport during the 1800's (after 1805). The only known nineteenth-century businesses where located a few miles away in Merrimacport, Massachusetts from circa 1784 to the 1880's.

Now, that I am revisiting this subject - it seems that the foot on this pot is a characteristic that was seen on products made at the William Pecker Pottery (circa 1790-1820) and the Chase Family Pottery (circa 1820-1880s) in Merrimacport during the 1800's. It's very-possible that this pot could be related to this production, especially, since this is regarded as a nineteenth-century house made after 1805 (last known Newburyport red earthenware company before 1897).

 Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Pot

Dug in the Backyard at 28 Kent Street - Newburyport, Mass.

Possibly Made in Merrimacport, Mass.

Circa 1800-1850

Stands 8 3/8" Tall

View of the Interior

Another View of the Interior 

View of the Base and the Foot

This Type of Foot is Regularly Found on Products Produced in Merrimacport, Mass.

I had never considered the potters in Merrimacport as a possible place of manufacture for this pot, but it is certainly a possibility with how the foot appears This foot is very-similar to the bases seen on some of the objects in my collection that I attribute to the William Pecker Pottery. Red earthenware made at the Pecker Pottery has been discovered throughout the Newburyport-area in some of the area's older homes. Newburyport was certainly a target market for this business. The more I think about it - the more I realize that there is a strong possibility that this is where this pot was produced.

The following map shows the distance between the house at 28 Kent Street in Newburyport and Merrimacport - the potteries would have actually been located closer to the Merrimac River. You can probably envision how the businesses in Merrimacport would have floated their products upriver to Newburyport in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. 28 Kent Street is located about one-block from the river -and, a short distance from the downtown-area, where a delivery of pottery would have been originally deposited for distribution (or brought to a merchant).

The Distance Between 28 Kent St. and Merrimacport, Mass is About 9 Miles

Photo Courtesy: Mapquest

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...