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Historical markers and memorial plaques are more than abundant throughout New England.  So abundant, that they are often ignored.  Newburyport is full of them.  They hang on buildings, are mounted on stones in our parks, and sometimes show up in the middle of nowhere.  However, if you stop to read them, you can learn quite a bit about our fair city.  The following is a photographic gallery of such markers.

 
 

- Click on any image to enlarge - 

Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission - In 1930, a committee was formed to place historic land markers throughout Massachusetts to signify any (approximately) 300 year old event that took place on the designated site.

-click on pictures to enlarge-

Dalton House
Located in-front of 95 State Street, diagonal from Newburyport Public Library
 

 

Watt's Cellar 
Found on front left side of the Fire House in Market Square
 

 

Edward Rawson
Located in front of 267 High Street between Rawson Ave and Lafayette Street
 
 
 
 
Approach to Carr's Ferry
Located on the corner of High St. and Jefferson Street
 

 

Markers along the waterfront. These signs are mounted low on the granite block retaining walls that run the length of the boardwalk.
 
-click on pictures to enlarge-
 
Custom House Slip

 

 
Warehouse Point
 

 

Francis Warf

 

 
Somerby's Landing
 
 
US Coast Guard Monument
Located on the green between the Fire House and Boardwalk.
 
-click on pictures to enlarge-
 
 
The Monument reads:

NEAR THIS SITE WAS BORN

THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
WITH THE LAUNCHING OF THE 
USRC MASSACHUSETTS JULY 23 1791
BUILT BY WILLIAM SEARLE ON
COMMISSION OF PRESIDENT GEORGE
WASHINGTON DURING THE OFFICE
OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON SECRETARY 
OF THE TREASURY, SHE WAS THE
FIRST SUCH VESSEL IN THE SERVICE
OF THE UNITED STATES.
THE MASSACHUSETTS WAS FIFTY 
FEET LONG AND WEIGHED MORE 
THAN SEVENTY TONS. SHE WAS THE 
LARGEST OF A FLEET  OF TEN CUTTERS
BUILT TO GUARD THE COAST
AGAINST SMUGGLERS.
 
 

Bomb Shell - Brought from the siege of Louisburg by Nathaniel Knapp Jr. 1759. 

Located in the front of the Old  Courthouse on Frog Pond/ Bartlett Mall

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Bomb Shell and mounted plaque
 
 
 
Plaque
 
 

The Chain Bridge -  connecting Newburyport to Deer Island on to Salisbury.

-click on pictures to enlarge-

Mounted on side of support structure facing road

It reads:

THE FIRST BRIDGE OVER THE NAVIGABLE
WATERS OF THE MERRIMACK RIVER WAS
ERECTED BY TIMOTHY PALMER IN 1792
__________________________
IT WAS SUPERSEDED IN 1810 BY A
CHAIN SUSPENSION BRIDGE BUILT BY
JOHN TEMPLEMAN FROM THE PLANS FURNISHED
BY JAMES FINLEY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PA.
        ___________________________
FEBRUARY 6, 1827, THE SUPPORTING CHAINS
GAVE WAY AND THE BRIDGE WITH A HEAVILY
LOADED OX CART FELL INTO THE RIVER.
IT WAS REBUILT DURING THE FOLLOWING SUMMER
 AND MAINTAINED AS A TOLL BRIDGE
UNTIL AUGUST 4, 1868, WHEN IT WAS 
LAID OUT AS A PUBLIC HIGHWAY
        ___________________________
UNDER  AUTHORITY OF AN ACT OF THE
GENERAL COURT OF 1908, IT WAS AGAIN
REBUILT IN 1909, BY THE
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ESSEX COUNTY.
 
 
Sign at foot of bridge
 
 

FEDERAL CUSTOMS HOUSE  1835 to 1911-  Ships from all over the world came into port and registered their cargo. Federal Customs House is now a museum, rich with Newburyport History. Plaque announces the restoration efforts Newburyport engaged in in 1975.

Located at 25 Water Street, the plaque is located on the front left side of the building

-click on pictures to enlarge-

 

Atkinson Common-  A gift to the City of Newburyport by Eunice A. Currier as a memorial to her father Matthias Atkinson 1873. Park development begun in 1894.

Located near the rear of the park behind the man made pond. The plaque is mounted to a large stone.

-click on pictures to enlarge-

 
 
Brown Square memorial-  U.S.W.V in memory and grateful appreciation of the men of Newburyport and the vicinity, who served in the war with Spain. The Philippine Insurrection and the China Relief Expedition 1898- 1902
 
 Located across from City Hall in Brown Square.

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Washington Square memorial for Eben Bradbury Jr-  55th U.S. Marine who was killed in the Battle of Belleau Woods - FRANCE June 12, 1918
 
 Located at Washington Square. Plaque is mounted in stone.

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Plaque in stone
 
 
 
Plaque
 
Bartlet Mall-  Located at High Street and bordered by Auburn, Greenleaf and Pond Street. Contains a pond carved out by a glacier and has an 1805 Superior Court House situated on it.
 
 Plaque mounted on stone, located right front side of Old Court House facing Frog Pond.

-click on pictures to enlarge-

Plaque in stone
 
 
Plaque
 
It Reads:
The Bartlet Mall
It was first shaped thousands of years ago by a huge chunk
of ice which broke off a retreating glacier. When the ice finally
melted, it left a steep - sided pit that geologists call the kettle hole.
In 1645 the first settlers from England named the water at 
the bottom of the kettle hole Frog Pond. Here they watered thousands
of their sheep, which grazed on the ridge above.
     The common land around Frog Pond was dug out for its sand
and gravel. It also became the site of a windmill (the millstone
lies near the path along the south rim) and the long wooden shed
of a ropewalk bordering High Street.
In 1744 the southerly side was leveled to form a Trayning Field
for the militia companies which soon would fight in the revolutionary
war.
     After the ropewalk was torn down, Nathaniel Tracy, merchant 
and privateer owner, was authorized in 1779 to plant shade trees
on the vacant site.
     The shift of gravel pit to park continued in 1800. Captain
Edmund Bartlet and friends undertook to fill an unsightly gully.
They also converted the ropewalk site into a promenade, patterned
after London's famous Pall Mall. It was named Bartlet Mall.
In 1834 volunteer workers extended the walkway around the
western rim above the pond. They also implanted turf in the
embankments above and below the path.
     Professional landscaping (plans by Charles Eliot) was
sponsored in 1889 by Mall improvements Society, which left the
paths and lawns much like you see them now.
     Today, the City Improvement Society and other citizens
continue to keep an eye on the area and to offer a helping hand.
For two centuries the Mall has been a place for special activities
skating, sliding on snowy slopes, picnicking, community celebrations,
festivity, quiet contemplation. All of these doings have made
the Mall a special place for all of us.
 
Newburyport Tea Party testimonial 1773-  A plaque in testimonial to a tea burning in Market Square
 
 Located in Market Square. Plaque's  mounted on the building's corner that houses the business "Monkeys Fist". Plaque is facing door of "Brass Lyon" shop.

-click on pictures to enlarge-

Plaque
 
The Powder House 1822-  It was erected in 1822 to store the town supply of gun powder.
 
The Powder House is located behind the National Guard building on Low
Street. The plaque is mounted on the side of the building facing Low Street.

-click on pictures to enlarge-

Plaque
 
Inn Street Mall Renovation 1975-  This plaque  mounted on the side of a building facing up Inn street towards Pleasant street is just a reminder of the great work the City had completed in an large scale redevelopment project in 1975 

-click on pictures to enlarge-

Plaque
 
 
The Newburyport Firehouse Center-  A historic building built as a Market House and Lyceum in 1822. Served as a central fire station from mid-1800's to 1980. Now used by Center for the Arts and has a build-out for a restaurant on the first floor.
 
 Located in Market square. Plaque on front of building.

-click on pictures to enlarge-

 

 

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This page last updated on 1/18/2004 6:00:18 PM.