Martin Keith House (1807)

Martin Keith House, Ipswich, MA, photograph

courtesy of Richard B. Hall

One of Middleborough’s most architecturally distinguished structures no longer stands in Middleborough, but rather is located in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The Martin Keith House (1807) stood at the crest of a small hill on the south side of Highland Street near Rock Village where 33 Highland Street now stands for nearly two centuries and it was undoubtedly the finest architectural specimen ever built at Rock, the two later Atwood houses on Miller Street notwithstanding. In October, 1990, through the timely intervention of Richard B. Hall who had a long affection for the Keith House and its architecture, as well as connections to it through both his mother’s and father’s families, the house was saved from destruction. “It's a great source of pride to me that I was able, in the name of ancestors on both sides of my family, to secure its salvation”, says Hall. Given Hall’s long family connection with and emotional attachment to the house which was reassembled in Ipswich in 1995, it’s not surprising that he has called the Martin Keith House his “favorite house in all of New England.”

The Keiths came to Middleborough from Bridgewater where they were among the earliest settlers, being descendants of Reverend James Keith of Aberdeen, Scotland, who was the first (1664) ordained minister in Bridgewater. Reverend Keith’s grandson, Captain Joseph Keith (1738-1814), with his family removed from Bridgewater to Rock Village (then known as Beaver Dam) near the close of the eighteenth century. The Keiths apparently had some financial means as indicated both by the house which Martin Keith later built as well as the deference with which they were treated in the community. Joseph Keith seems always to have been referred to by his title of "Captain", while his son Martin appears in records as “Esquire”.

Martin Keith House restored interior,

Ipswich, MA, photograph courtesy of

Richard B. Hall

Arriving in Middleborough sometime about 1781, Captain Keith became involved in the early industrial development of Beaver Dam. He was one of the original builders of the Beaver Dam sawmill which was constructed in 1783 on Black Brook just upstream from Highland Street and which operated through the mid-nineteenth century.

Keith’s son Martin (1771-1854) became prominent in local politics, serving as a Middleborough selectman (1808-09), justice of the peace (appointed September 3, 1810) and representative to the Massachusetts legislature (1811-12 and 1821). During this period, the younger Keith maintained the family’s interest in the nearby saw mill, and it was likely there that lumber for the house Keith would erect in 1807 was milled. Additionally, Keith may have been engaged in iron-working. Hall notes that Martin Keith “was called the ‘rake baron’ since he apparently produced rakes nearby”.

While the house was long known for its association with the Keith family, the 1807 date of construction was unknown until it was disassembled in 1990 at which time Hall made a fortunate discovery.

When I removed the plaster about one third of the way up the stairs behind the lath, on a partion board was written in chalk "M Keith 1807". It appears Mr. Keith was perusing his new house as it was going together and wanted some mark of his association to it! My paternal great-great-great grandmother was born Arbella Keith. She was Martin Keith's sister. There's no question that she watched that house go up and spent many hours there visiting with her brother.

Thomas Ruggles House, Columbia Falls, ME,

photograph, 1920s, Ruggles House Society

Not only was Hall able to determine the date of the house’s construction, but through another connection to the home, this time on the maternal side of his family, he was able to confirm the home’s builder as Aaron Simmons Sherman of Marshfield, Massachusetts, a housewright perhaps best known for the impeccable Thomas Ruggles House (1818-20) at Columbia Falls, Maine, which bears a remarkable resemblance to the Keith House.

As I child (I grew up in Bridgewater) my maternal aunt Elizabeth Perkins would often take me by the old place expressing her great dismay that the house would obviously be lost to history. Her quote: “this lovely old house has a connection to my father's family. He'd take us down here as children often to see it. But I was never sure just how he was connected to it.” It was all very cryptic.

So my affection for the Martin Keith House began when I was no more than eight years old. Subsequently as the years went by, I'd make intentional detours to drive by it to make sure it was still standing. To my great delight it always was … but the story of the association with my maternal side haunted me.

It was not until 1982 when a first cousin once removed directed me to go into her attic and bring down a small trunk of papers and photos. (She knew I was very interested in genealogy and old houses). I had never known much about my great grandmother (born Amelia Bartlett Sherman). I only knew that her father was Aaron Simmons Sherman from Marshfield, Massachusetts, and her mother Lydia Sherman (neé Whitney) of Machias, Maine.

Aaron Simmons Sherman, carte

de visite photograph, mid-19th

century, courtesy of Richard B.

Hall

Well that small trunk turned out to be a Godsend of information. In it was the entire handwritten genealogy of the Sherman family, Aaron's removal to Machias, Maine, where he built the famous Thomas Ruggles House. Ruggles was from here in Plymouth County (Rochester) and since my great-great-great-grandfather appeared to show early promise as a draftsman and architect he commissioned him to build his own residence in Columbia Falls, Maine. A placard in front of the Ruggles House commemorates Aaron S. Sherman and his building of that wonderful house.

During my aunt Elizabeth's last year of life (1988), she asked if I'd take her to Washington County, Maine. I willingly agreed. As we headed toward Machias she said "turn off the main road here and go into Columbia Falls". I did as she said. As we drove down the main street of that rural town the Thomas Ruggles house immediately showed its beautiful countenance and my aunt said "remind you of anything?" I said "YES! It's very similar to the old abandoned house in Rock Village."

She said "yes. That's why I brought you here. (So bits and pieces remained of what her father had told her). Look at the sign on the house and you'll see my great-great-grandfather's name. I'm quite sure he built the house on Highland Street too. I think that's why my father always referred to the family connection".

Well the trunk from 1982 confirmed that Aaron S. Sherman did, in fact, build the Keith House and many others in and about the greater Boston area with a focus on southeastern Massachusetts. His last great commission was for Daniel Webster when he designed an addition to Webster's house in the new "Gothic Style". The house no longer exists but postcards of it do.

Martin Keith House entry, Ipswich,

MA, photograph courtesy of Richard B.
Hall

The beautiful Adamesque house which Martin Keith raised on Highland Street in 1807 was unlike anything previously (or later) seen at Rock Village, and despite its architectural refinement, some residents no doubt perceived it as overly ostentatious in a neighborhood dominated by modest cape and half-cape style homes. Local folklore indicates that the pretensions of the family ultimately led to tragedy. Mrs. Ernest Thomas of Middleborough wrote in the mid-1940s of a burial in the Rock Cemetery on Highland Street: "One of the earliest graves in the old cemetery was that of another young girl who used to live in that rather striking looking white house you may have noticed about one quarter mile down the road on the right.... The story goes that in the early 1800s a wealthy family lived there with an only daughter whom they worshipped. But as she grew up she fell in love with a very poor young man who lived in the modest little farm house right across the road [Gunstock Farm]. The girl's people were furious and determined not to let her have anything to do with him. Of course she was quite upset. Then one day she disappeared. They hunted and hunted and finally found her body down in the cellar where she had drowned herself in a huge hogshead of brine kept for pickling the winter meat." The supposition is that the girl may have been Deborah Keith, the sister of Martin and daughter of Captain Joseph. Although Deborah Keith is buried in the Rock Cemetery, she was 27 at the time of her death and not an only daughter (she had four sisters). Alternatively, Lurana Keith who was born in 1795 and was the only daughter of Martin Keith would seem to better fit the tale. She is however identical with the Lurany Keith who married Branch Harlow in 1815. Lurany Keith Harlow died in 1878. Not surprisingly, skepticism surrounds this tale since there is no documentation to support it.

Pretentious or not, Martin Keith was an extensive landowner at Rock. In 1812, he purchased his father’s homestead farm, and seven years later in 1819, acquired an additional 123 acres from Nathaniel Tinkham near the Rock Burying Ground on Highland Street. The 1820 Federal census taken on August 7 of that year indicates that Martin, Hope, and sons John, Samuel P. and probably Foster were residing in the Keith House. Interestingly, only one member was recorded as being engaged in agriculture, indicating that the family’s interests lay elsewhere. The 1840 census records Martin as being engaged in agriculture though, given his age, this was likely in the role of master farmer.

Martin Keith death notice, Namasket Gazette,

November 24, 1854

On March 25, 1844, Martin Keith sold his entire estate to his youngest surviving son, Samuel P. Keith (1801-81), who granted his father a life estate in the property permitting him to live “in the same manner as if his deed to me had never been made during the period of his natural life.” Martin Keith continued to reside in the home until his death in 1854. Following that time, it was occupied by his widow, Hope (Sturtevant) Keith, with her son Samuel and his family. In 1856 Hope Keith was noted as being likely the oldest living Middleborough resident. (Moses Thompson, in fact, was three years older). She later moved to Oakham where she died in 1858 though her remains were brought back to Middleborough for burial in the Rock Cemetery.

Samuel P. Keith resided in the Keith House and farmed the property for several years while his aged father was still alive. Yet he may have been less successful financially than his father. Hall writes, “My sense is Samuel Keith didn't have his father's business acumen and the house went downhill from there. In fact Martin himself never finished the interior of the house. The only reason can be that he ran out of funds. One of the two main bedrooms in the house (as you face it upstairs left) was always an attic room and never finished.”

"Farm for Sale" notice, Namasket

Gazette, August 1, 1856

Perhaps tiring of Rock Village, just a year following his father’s death, Keith purchased a house lot on the west side of Forest Street in Middleborough and began the construction of a house there. “Mr. Samuel P. Keith, has commenced operation in good earnest, for erecting a house on a new street, running from the house of Mr. J. A. Leonard, towards Muttock,” reported the Namasket Gazette on August 3, 1855. The following year, 1856, Samuel advertised the Highland Street property for sale, disposing of the farm for $2500 to Charles Marchant, a mariner from Edgartown, Massachusetts.

"Auction Notice", Middleborough Gazette

and Old Colony Advertiser, January 18, 1868

Marchant retired from seafaring in order to farm the property, though he remained at the occupation in Middleborough for just ten years. In February, 1868, he sold the former Keith farm to Francis B. Gibbs (1833-1926) of Middleborough for $3200. Gibbs was described as “a strong character of the old New England type” and during his lifetime engaged in a number of occupations including farmer, shoemaker, manager of a hotel at Middleborough center, yard foreman of the Tremont Iron Works. In 1884, while living in the Keith House, Gibbs was the operator of the Rock general grocery store at Miller and Smith Streets. Gibbs was deeply interested in religious matters and “his interest and loyalty in all things pertaining to his church and his God were deep and abiding.”

Francis B. Gibbs advertisement, Resident and

Business Directory of Middleboro', Mass.

(Needham, MA: Local Directory and

Publishing Company, 1884).

Gibbs sold the property to Annie W. and Elizabeth A. Sumner in August, 1889, and C. A. Sumner is recorded in the Middleborough directory of that year as farming the property. The Sumners sold the property just a few years later in March, 1892, to George T. M. Gammons (1838-1924) of Rock.

Gammons, like Francis B. Gibbs before him, was characterized as “a typical, old-fashioned New Englander.” Gammons farmed the former Keith property and engaged in lumbering during the winter as did many local farmers, and he sold charcoal, fuel wood and lumber.

"Auction Sale" notice,

Middleboro Gazette,

March 19, 1909

In 1908, Albert E. Wilkinson of Dorchester purchased the former Keith House and surrounding land, described at the time as “30 acres of land, a woodlot, two-story house of eleven rooms, stable, 36 x 30 feet, with carriage, tool, poultry, wood and ice houses.” Wilkinson took up residency with his family about the end of March but did not remain long, defaulting on the $1500 mortgage he had taken with Gammons. The property was subsequently sold at public auction on March 29, 1909, and was reacquired by Gammons, the mortgagee, Wilkinson the previous week having sold his personal property at auction before departing Middleborough.

Gammons resold the Keith property to dairyman John M. Cushman of Middleborough who seemingly sold a portion of his North Street farm to Robert Fickert in order to finance purchase of the Highland Street property. Cushman (who maintained his residence on North Street) would own the property until August, 1918, during which period he rented the Keith House. The first occupants were the La Flamine family of Fall River who rented the house beginning in April, 1909. About 1915, Frank Maddigan who was a dairyman rented the property and operated his milk route from there. Although the family lived there only for a few years, until October, 1917, when Frank Maddigan relocated to Middleborough, a photograph on the Middleborough Public Library's website is captioned "Former Maddigan House".

J. Frank Maddigan Milk Dealer,

advertisement, Resident and Business

Directory of Middleboro, Massachusetts:

1916-1917 (Boston, MA: Union Publishing Co.

[Inc.], 1916).

On August 26, 1918, Cushman sold the Keith House to Joachim P. and Alfred Baptista or Baptiste of Somerville. Alfred shortly afterwards disposed of his interest to Joachim who in January, 1920, through the agency of the P. F. Leland Company of Boston sold the property to Helen L. and Swift N. Long of Middleborough. Long (1853-1938) was a “retired building contracting superintendent, prominent in this trade in Connecticut” where he was involved in the construction of the Windham County Courthouse, the American Thread Company buildings at Willimantic, and numerous public buildings in Hartford. Long retired from this work in 1925, but remained occupied as a carpenter after he came to Middleborough and (like many families at the time) engaged in poultry-raising.

Following the death of Long’s wife Helen in February, 1932, Long’s daughter and son-in-law, Helen S. and Ralph E. Creamer came to live with Long. Ralph E. Creamer (1907-88) was engaged in a number of occupations during his residence in Middleborough. The 1939 directory lists him as a “mattress maker”, while his obituary states that he was “self-employed as a well driller until his retirement.”

On October 29, 1941, the Keith House was greatly damaged in “a spectacular fire that sent up a thick column of smoke visible for several miles [and which] destroyed the barn, ruined the kitchen and ell and damaged the house…. The fire worked its way through the ell and finally into the attic of the main building, but was stopped before it had gotten into the front rooms.” Though initial assessment of the fire department upon responding to the alarm was that the building was doomed, Engines 1 and 3 of the Middleborough Fire Department were able to contain the fire and save the main structure. Creamer, who was partially blind, lamented the latest in a string of losses. “This place has been a hoodoo for me ever since I came here. My wife has been in the hospital since February, except for about a week, and my step-daughter left recently. I’ve got my bird dog, Dutchess, left and that’s about all.”

Nonetheless, Creamer owned the Keith House for nearly a half century more. On April 27, 1988, Creamer and his second wife Gladys (Maden) Creamer sold the house to his step-son, John J. Hebert of Middleborough. Ralph Creamer died just two and a half weeks later.

Martin Keith House, Middleborough, MA,

photograph, 1990, courtesy of Richard B. Hall

According to Hall, the house was in a state of dereliction when he visited it again in 1990, with some of the damage resulting from the 1941 fire.

The house was nearly beyond salvation. By the time I got the place it was in truly dreadful condition. Both end chimney stacks had been removed and all sills were rotten beyond reclamation. The fireplace mantel in the dining room (which had been converted to a kitchen) was found rotted under a fir tree close to Highland Street.

Originally I had wanted to restore the house for myself. That was my intent, but when I realized I didn't have sufficient money to do it justice, I persevered knowing someone would one day see the potential in the place.



Martin Keith House, Middleborough, MA,

photograph, October, 1990, courtesy of

Richard B. Hall
Disassembly of the house has gotten underway
with the stripping of the clapboards to expose
the horizontal plank sheathing underneath.
Next comes removal of the decorative trim from
around both the doorway and the distinctive
second floor Palladian window.

We took the entire month of October 1990 to disassemble the place. [The owner of the property] John Hebert was only keeping the house standing because (as he told me) "the electric meter is there and it will cost one thousand dollars to move it …. You pay to have it moved and the house is yours". I paid him the money and the rest is history. John only went through the house once with me. It was interesting to note that as we began to take the house apart Mr. Hebert became more and more interested. Then his son-in-law (a very nice fellow by the name of Teceno) helped us for one full day remove the clapboards from the house.

At the time the house was disassembled, it was extensively documented with both photographs and videos. “They all aided in the resurrection of Martin Keith's beautiful house,” notes Hall.

The house was disassembled in October of 1990 and stored in my barn on Cape Cod until 1995 when I found sympathetic buyers who recognized the architectural significance of the house. I recall that first winter when the house was going back up. At that point the house was not finished inside and the owners were having great trouble with the contractor they'd hired to reassemble and finish the Keith House. I was hired to assist in a good deal of the research for the reconstruction of it. The folks who bought it from me … were able to do all the structural repairs and to replace the back ell which had burned off in a fire years before. I was able, through George Decas, to locate an old postcard of the Martin Keith House taken from near Hope's Rest Cemetery. It showed the original configuration of the kitchen ell and barns. It was used as a prototype to replace it when the house went back together in Ipswich. I feel very fortunate that it came to pass and the house was saved from destruction. Its three key elements are the fanlight doorway, the Palladian window, and that tremendous stairway. It's truly the epitome of high style Federal architecture.

[For a garage] I had suggested another hip-roofed barn/carriage house that exists still in Middleborough that would have been the perfect complement (stylistically and scale-wise) to have copied but they opted to put up that gable end pseudo garage which I feel detracts markedly from the house. I find that existing building they appended to the right as you face the place too small scale and at odds with the main body of the house.

But, in the grander scheme of things, I should be thankful it survived as well as it did.

Martin Keith House, Ipswich, MA, photograph,

c. 1996, Walter Thompson Collection,

Middleborough Public Library

Indeed, thankfully through the efforts of Mr. Hall, the Martin Keith House stands to this day. And while it is important that this one individual house was saved, Mr. Hall’s work also demonstrates that seemingly derelict structures in Middleborough and elsewhere are not beyond salvation despite their outward appearance and structural challenges. Regardless of their condition, these neglected structures are important cultural resources, the loss of which compromises our shared heritage and the reclamation of which is therefore not only desirable but possible.

Sources:
Richard B. Hall, email correspondence, December, 2010
Maddigan, Michael J. Elysian Fields: An Illustrated History of Rock Cemetery. Middleboro, MA: Rock Cemetery Association, 2007.
Middleboro Gazette, “Rock”, February 7, 1908:3; ibid., February 14, 1908:1; ibid., April 3, 1908:2; Mortgagee Sale of Real Estate notice, March 5, 1909:2; “Rock”, March 26, 1909:5; ibid., April 2, 1909:2; “Middleboro”, April 9, 1909:6; “Rock”, April 30, 1909:5; ibid., October 21, 1917:1; “Middleboro”, January 23, 1920:1; “Former Middleboro Man Observes 90th Birthday”, April 6, 1923:2; “Poultry Thefts”, November 21, 1924:1; “Rock”, November 21, 1924:6; ibid., December 19, 1924:4; “Rock”, April 23, 1926:6; “Recent Deaths”, February 12, 1932:1; “Deaths”, February 12, 1932:4; “Recent Deaths”, October 7, 1938:1; “Deaths”, October 7, 1938:7; “Rock”, October 7, 1938:8; “Fire Ruins Old Long Place on Highland St.”, October 31, 1941:1; “Obituaries”, May 19, 1988:20.
Middleborough Gazette and Old Colony Advertiser, “Middleboro”, January 18, 1868:2; Marchant auction notice, ibid.
Namasket Gazette, “Local Improvements”, August 3, 1855:2
The Plymouth County Directory, and Historical Register of the Old Colony. Middleboro, MA: Stillman B. Pratt & Co., 1867.
Plymouth County Registry of Deeds 188:167; 199:126; 235:214; 276:141; 356:204; 531:33; 570:525; 586:230; 645:299; 990;420; 1018:182; 1311:562; 1345:416; 1631:541; 1687:277; 3594:500; 8425:175; 30384:349
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro’, Mass. Needham, MA: Local Directory and Publishing Company, 1884.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro and Lakeville, Mass. Needham, MA: A. E. Foss & Co., 1895.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro, Mass. North Cambridge, MA: Edward A. Jones, 1901.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro and Lakeville, Mass.: 1904-5. Boston, MA: Edward A. Jones, 1904.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro and Lakeville, Massachusetts:1909. Boston, MA: Boston Suburban Book Co., 1908.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro, Massachusetts:1916-1917. Boston, MA: Union Publishing Company, (Inc.), 1916.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro, Massachusetts: 1921-1923. Boston, MA: Union Publishing Company, 1921.
Crosby’s Middleboro, Massachusetts Directory:1928-29. Wollaston, MA: Crosby Publishing Co., 1928.
Middleboro and Carver, Massachusetts Directory: 1934. North Hampton, NH: Crosby Publishing Co., Inc., 1934.
Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives Microfilm Publication M33, Roll M33-50, Page 413, Image 345. Washington, D. C.: National Archives.
Fifth Census of the United States, 1840. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives Microfilm Publication M19, Roll M19-64, Page 264. Washington, D. C.: National Archives.
Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives Microfilm Publication M704, Roll M704-76, Page 194, Image 652. Washington, D. C.: National Archives.
Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll M432-333, Page 249B, Image 503. Washington, D. C.: National Archives.

Eddy-Bryant House

On the south-east side of Katrina Road (formerly Raven Street), upon a walled embankment beneath an enormous weeping tree stands the graceful Eddy-Bryant House, one of Middleborough's least known historic houses. Also known as the Ebenezer Eddy House, this two story Federal style dwelling generally has failed to receive notice in historical discussions of Eddyville.

The house is reputed to have evolved from a small one-story dwelling dating from the late 17th century, said to have been built immediately upon the return of the settlers from Plymouth following King Philip's War. This same tradition has been maintained concerning other Eddy houses, as well, but there seems to be no documentary evidence to sustain such an assertion relative to the Eddy-Bryant House.

The front main portion of the Eddy-Bryant House is unusual for its narrow depth. It is this portion of the house which was built in the first quarter of the nineteenth century by Captain Joshua Eddy for his son, Ebenezer (1783-1829). Wealthy Captain Eddy had generously offered to build a house for each one of his seven sons upon the family's lands at East Middleborough. Though two of the sons - Morton and John - declined their father's gracious offer, the other five availed themselves of the opportunity, including Ebenezer. The four houses built for Ebenezer's brothers were the Zachariah Eddy House (the Eddy Homestead at the Eddyville green), the Joshua and Nathaniel Eddy Houses (facing one another across Plympton Street), and the William S. Eddy House (on Plymouth Street opposite Savery's Pond at Waterville), all of which still stand. The Eddy-House thus forms an important component in the historic nexus of Eddy houses at Eddyville.

The site chosen for the Eddy-Bryant House was a knoll on the east side of Raven Street, which until the 1960s linked Eddyville with the Green. Though now dead-ended on two ends, the road was once a well-frequented byway running parallel with Raven Brook.

Sadly, Ebenezer Eddy did not long enjoy his fine house, for he died in 1829. Upon his death, the house passed to his eldest child, Lucius Junius Eddy (1808-64). During the early period of Lucius' ownership, the house remained intimately connected with the Eddy Homestead, whose
second owner, Charlotte (Eddy) Pratt, was a first cousin to both Lucius and his wife, Louisa (Pratt) Eddy, as well as the wife to Louisa's brother Francis Pratt. Later, following their removal to Fall River, Lucius and his family used the house strictly as a summer residence.

Lucius' eldest son Caleb Francis Eddy inherited the property following his father's death in 1864, but he seems never to have resided there, making his permanent home in Fall River and later at West Newton where he headed the grain and coal firm C. F. Eddy Company. At the time of his removal to Newton, he disposed of his Middleborough property, selling the house and forty acres of land to Isaac Bryant, Jr., of Middleborough, March 7, 1867.

As with the Eddys, three generations of Bryants would own and occupy the house. The first, Isaac Bryant, Jr. (1829-94), coincidentally was born the same year the house's first owner died. Bryant was employed as a farmer, and later engaged in the manufacture of wooden packing boxes with Grover Bennett of Middleborough under the firm name Bryant & Bennett. This work was conducted near the Eddy-Bryant House at the old lumber mill located on Raven Brook between Plympton and Fuller Streets. Though this business lapsed in the mid-1880s, Bryant continued to deal in lumber until his death. The 1889 directory of Middleborough residents, for instance, lists Bryant as a farmer and “lumber manufacturer”.

Upon Isaac Bryant’s death, the Eddy-Bryant House passed to Bryant's eldest son, Walter T. Bryant (1858-1939) who, like his father, was engaged as a wood and lumber dealer, as well as a teamster and jobber for a number of years. For a short time, he, with his brother Horace L. Bryant (who himself was later postmaster for Eddyville), operated the lumber firm of Bryant Brothers. Bryant also farmed the Eddy-Bryant House property, raising vegetables on the land which adjoined Raven Brook. In Toys in the Sand, a delightful collection of childhood reminiscences of numerous Lakeville residents, Walter Bryant's grandson, Donald Erickson, has left some interesting memories of his Bryant grandparents and their Raven Street home.

Following the death of Walter Bryant, his own eldest son, Ernest F. Bryant (1881-1962) who was employed as a carpenter, owned and occupied the house. With his death, nearly 100 years of Bryant family ownership came to an end. The few owners since that time admirably have sought to maintain the house. Though the land behind the house has been developed as a cranberry bog, the vicinity retains its quiet charm and elegance, and the stately Eddy-Bryant House continues to preside over the dusty rural lane as it has for the past 150 years.

Illustrations:
Eddy-Bryant House, 12 Katrina Road, Middleborough, MA, photographs by Michael J. Maddigan, 1995

Middleboro Gazette Building (1876)

Architectural

The Middleboro Gazette Building consists of a three-story building in Greek Revival style measuring 24 feet wide by 42 feet deep and a two-story 22 by 35 foot addition to the rear.

The main building, erected in 1876, rises three stories from a granite foundation with the gable end fronting Wareham Street. The walls are constructed of red brick produced in James F. Eldridge’s Purchade brickyard in Middleborough and set in a running bond pattern.

The two first floor entries are situated above the level of the street and a flight of concrete steps approaches each one. The entry on the left (east) which accesses the second floor has a modern steel panel door, while that on the right (west) through which entrance to the first floor is gained has a modern plate glass and aluminum frame door of the commercial type. To the right of each door is a large square plate glass and aluminum frame window. A concrete lintel spans nearly the entire façade over the two doors and windows. Hanging from this lintel, over each door, is a lantern-style lighting fixture with a nearly spherical glass globe. The one on the right (west) is missing at present.

The window bays on the second and third floor façade all contain 2/2 sash and are symmetrically placed. The three bays on the second floor are rectangularly-shaped and have granite sills and lintels. The two third story bays are segmentally-arched. These, too, have granite sills with brick lintels composed of a single course of bricks set in rowlock fashion.

Above these last two windows, in the center of the gable peak, is an engraved marble plaque set into the brick wall bearing the inscription: “ERECTED 1876 BY CHAS. SHOCKLEY”.

The fenestration of the side elevations of the main building consists of irregularly-placed rectangular window bays with some articulation in the form of granite sills and lintels. Each contains 2/2 sash.

The asphalt-shingled roof of the main building is steeply pitched with deep eaves overhanging the façade. There is an interior brick chimney located below the gable ridge in the center of the western side of the building.

The addition to the rear of the main building rises two stories from a granite foundation. It appears to have been constructed in the first quarter of the 20th century, but after 1903 as it does not appear on the map of Middleborough center of that year.

The first floor bays of the addition are all segmentally-arched with lintels of a single rowlock course of bricks, and sills. These bays contain 1/1 and 6/6 sash. There is an entry located in the near center of the west elevation of the addition. It has a segmental arch with lintel of two rowlock courses of bricks, and an aluminum and plate glass commercial door.

The nine second story windows of the addition are all large industrial-type metal frame windows of twenty lights each, arranged in four horizontal rows of five. The six central lights of each of these windows are framed to open as an awning-type window to provide ventilation. Each of these windows has a narrow granite sill.

Over the entry on the west elevation is a large bay for freight. It has a large wood batten door, a granite sill and a segmental arch with lintel of two rowlock courses of bricks. Above this bay is a hoist and pulley.

The roof of the addition is asphalt shingled and has a minimal pitch.

At the time the Gazette Building was constructed in 1876, it was recognized as a substantial building – substantial in size, fabric and design with its first floor set half a story above the level of the muddy street. This fact undoubtedly prompted Shockley to situate the commemorative plaque noticeably in the gable peak to let passersby know of his accomplishment.

Ironically, though the building served as a proto-type for two other business blocks in Middleborough (the two Richards Blocks in Middleborough’s West End), the style of the Gazette Building – essentially a brick rendition of the earlier wood-frame commercial buildings in Middleborough - was rapidly outmoded. Later brick business blocks such as the Copeland/Glidden Building, Middleborough Savings Bank Building and Peirce Block were all built on a much greater scale and in vastly different styles including Romanesque and Colonial Revival.

Historical

The lot upon which the Gazette Building stands was purchased as a vacant lot, April 7, 1875, by Charles Shockley of Lakeville from Philander Washburn of Middleborough, the owner of numerous parcels of land upon which much of present-day Middleborough center stands [Plymouth Deeds 4111:194]. Newspapers at the time recorded the progress of the development:
It is current on the street that Charles Shockley of Lakeville has purchased the lot and land fronting on Water street, between George Soule’s estate and E. T. Jenk’s machine shop, paying therefore $1,000. [Middleboro Gazette, April 17, 1925, “What the Gazette Was Saying Fifty Years Ago”]

Charles Shockley has commenced work for a foundation for a tenement on lot of land between McElroy & Cushman’s store and Jenks’ building. [Middleboro Gazette, January 8, 1926, “What the Gazette Was Saying Fifty Years Ago”]

The walls of the structure were constructed of brick manufactured at Purchade near North Middleborough with Shockley purchasing 40,000 bricks from James F. Eldridge in April, 1875 [Middleboro Gazette, April 2, 1926, “What the Gazette Was Saying Fifty Years Ago”]. Upon completion of the structure, Shockley placed a commemorative marble plaque in the gable peak.

Undoubtedly, Shockley envisioned the building as a rental property, but by whom the main floor was occupied is not known. What is known is that Randall Hathaway and Josiah P. Marshall opened a fish market in the building’s basement in 1876 as recorded in the pages of the Middleboro Gazette which termed the structure the “new brick building on Water street” [Middleboro Gazette, August 20, 1926, “What the Gazette Was Saying Fifty Years Ago”].

In 1882, Shockley sold the building to James M. Coombs of Middleborough, editor of the Middleboro Gazette who was seeking a suitable home for his newspaper after years of rented premises [Plymouth Deeds 484:550]. The Middleboro Gazette had been established in 1852 as the Namasket Gazette by Samuel P. Brown (who also served as the paper’s editor) with the first issue appearing on October 7, 1852. Two years later, the newspaper was sold to Reverend Stillman Pratt who changed the name to the Middleborough Gazette and Old Colony Advertiser. The elder Pratt died on September 1, 1862, and the paper continued to be published by Pratt’s son, Stillman B. Pratt who expanded the operations of the newspaper by acquiring additional newspapers outside Middleborough and by establishing a job printing office to print invitations, notices, broadsides, advertisements, booklets, reports and other ephemera for local residents. Among the items printed in the Gazette offices were several of Middleborough’s Annual Town Reports for the period as well as the 1867 Plymouth County directory.

Coombs purchased the newspaper in 1869 and continued at its head for twenty-five years. Under Coombs’ direction, the operations of the newspaper were modernized and a permanent office acquired in the form of the Shockley Building.

Ill health ultimately compelled Coombs to sell the newspaper to partners Lorenzo Wood and Wallace Tinkham, though ownership of the Gazette Building was retained by the Coombs family until 1913 when Coombs’ daughter, Estelle B. Coombs, sold the building to Dr. Charles S. Cummings [Plymouth Deeds 1154:191]. Cummings, in turn, sold the property in two separate conveyances in 1913 and 1917 to Chester E. Weston who later transferred his interest to the Nemaskett Press, Inc., a job printer which operated in a portion of the building during the first half of the twentieth century [Plymouth Deeds 1154:193, 1273:2, 1392:293]. The property was acquired by Albert Deane who sold it December 10, 1945, to Lorenzo Wood, son of the newspaper’s original Lorenzo Wood, who succeeded his father as owner, publisher and editor of the Middleboro Gazette upon the latter’s death in 1930. Throughout this period, the newspaper’s offices remained in the building.

With the death of the second Lorenzo Wood in 1968, the Wood family sold, first, the Gazette and later in 1978 the Gazette Building itself [Plymouth Deeds 4414:74]. Title to the property has since been held by a number of individuals, and the building employed for a variety of purposes including an ice cream parlor, game room, realtor’s office, municipal office space and photographer’s studio. Today, the historic building is occupied by Salon Corsini and two apartments.

Illustrations:
Middleboro Gazette Building (Shockley Building), 8-10 Wareham Street, Middleborough, MA, photograph, 1880s
By the time this photograph was taken, the Middleboro Gazette had moved its offices into the building to which it would later give its name. For years, the Gazette had lived an intinerant existence occupying a number of offices about Middleborough Four Corners. Once located here in what had previously been known as the Shockley Building, the Gazette would remain for nearly a century. Besides printing and publishing one of the local newspapers, the Gazette operated a steam press which performed job work, a role clearly indicated by the large "PRINTING" sign which hangs from the front of the building.

Middleboro Gazette Building, 8-10 Wareham Street, Middleborough, MA, photograph by Michael J. Maddigan, late 1990s.

Nemaskett Press, Inc., advertising card, early 20th century
The Nemaskett Press suceeded the Gazette once the newspaper discontinued job print work. For years Nemaskett remained a presence in the building. Wareham Street has been renumbered a number of times. At the time this card was produced, the location was 47 Wareham Street.

Middleboro Gazette Building, 8-10 Wareham Street, Middleborough, MA, photographed by Michael J. Maddigan, late 1990s.

Sacred Heart Church

The following article was published on May 26, 1916, at the time plans for the present Church of the Sacred Heart in Middleborough were being finalized. The church took two years to complete and replaced an earlier woodframe church which stood nearby and which had served local Catholics since 1881. On June 19, 1918, the church was dedicated by Cardinal O'Connell.

AN IMPOSING EDIFICE.

NEW CHURCH OF THE SACRED HEART IS SHORTLY TO BE ERECTED IN IDEAL LOCATION.

Plans are nearing completion and work will soon be started on the new Church of the Sacred Heart, Middleboro, Rev. Timothy A. Curtin, pastor. The new church will face directly on Centre street, at the corner of Oak street, occupying the site of the present rectory, which will be removed to the west side of the present church, the use of which will not be interrupted by the new construction work.

The plans, which are being prepared by the office of the well known architect, Charles R. Greco of Boston, show an imposing structure in the English Gothic style, the whole building to be of Quincy granite with limestone trimmings. The shape of the lot has been utilized to the greatest advantage in the location and design of the church, which has been so placed as to have an unusually generous set-back from the street and well away from the corner of oak street. The chief emphasis of the design has been drawn to the impressive square tower which rises to a height of over 70 feet, at the corner of the main front, towards Oak street. This not only emphasizes the splendid location of this corner, but gives a chance for an entrance through the base of the tower from both streets leaving the centre of the front open for a large traceried window with figures of saints in canopied niches on either side above the central entrance door. This large window is repeated at the other end of the nave, over the main altar, which with the smaller side windows, should make a very impressive interior.

The chapel is located on the west side of the main church and is connected with it in such a manner that both can be used together on special occasions. On either side of the chapel entrance door are the baptistry and a chamber for a small organ [to be used for] small services in the chapel. The large organ is located over the main entrance vestibule of the church in a spacious choir gallery. The sacristies are grouped at the back of the church and chapel in such a manner that the boys' sacristy is easily accessible from the side porch on Oak street, while the priests' sacristy connects directly with a porch on the side of the chapel, toward the re-located rectory.

The main body of the church has a seating capacity of 600 and can be augmented to 800 when the chapel and church are used together, which is made possible by the open arches between, the lower part being filled with open metal work grilles as in mediavial [sic] church work.

The new Church of the Sacred Heart, when completed, should be one of the most impressive and pleasing in the vicinity of Boston, by reason of its fine location, material and design, and, while by no means the largest, forms a worthy successor to the series of churches which have recently been constructed in the diocese.

For more on the history and architecture of Sacred Heart Church, click here to visit their website.

Illustration:

"Sacred Heart Church, Middleboro, Mass." C. T. American Art, postcard, c. 1920.

Source:

"An Imposing Edifice", Middleboro Gazette, May 26, 1916, page 1.

Old Colony Railroad Freight House

The following post is from a revised version of A Report on the Old Colony Railroad Freight House (1887) which I prepared for the Washburn Site Reuse Committee in March, 2006, detailing the history of the former Old Colony Railroad Freight House located on Station Street in Middleborough. The freight house is presently owned by the Town of Middleborough. While some may view the Old Colony Freight House as simply an abandoned and decaying building, the structure is an important cultural resource which speaks to the town's as well as the region's transportation past, and it is listed as a contributing resource within the Downtown Middleborough National Register Historic District. The Freight House's architectural significance (as a building designed by noted regional architect Earl E. Rider and as a relatively intact surviving in situ example of a Victorian wood-frame freight house) and historical significance (as a reminder of Middleborough's economic past and the sole extant unaltered structure related to the town's railroading past) prompted the inclusion of the freight house in the Downtown Middleborough National Register Historic District.

At the time that the district nomination was being prepared in 1999, architectural historian and consultant William MacKenzie Woodward commented: “Middleborough’s distinguished industrial and commercial success arose largely through its superior rail connections; this building is all that remains to document that once-vital link.” For these reasons, the boundaries of the district were expanded specifically to incorporate the building within them and the request for proposals which sought to rehabilitate the building and which was issued on May 28, 1999, was written with the view that the “Town would encourage restoration of the Freight House building, if financially feasible. The building should be restored to its original exterior finish as allowed by code. The timber roof trusses would also be restored and incorporated into the interior design.”

The structure still awaits restoration.

Early Railroad Freighting in Middleborough

While Middleborough's early role as an important railroad junction is often recognized, what is not sometimes realized is that three separate railroad companies were responsible for this development: the Fall River Railroad (1846), the Cape Cod Branch Railroad (1848), and the Middleboro & Taunton Railroad (1856). The location at Middleborough center of three individual railroads operating contemporaneously, each with their attendant depots, freight houses, rail lines and subsidiary structures, created a confusing nexus of tracks and buildings, and competing services. The original freight houses for each of these three railroads were located on the west side of the railroad tracks along Vine Street, a not particularly thoughtful situation since nearly all the freight passing through these buildings either originated from or was destined for Middleborough center - on the opposite (east) side of the tracks.

Walling’s 1855 map of Middleborough clearly shows the situation of the Middleborough “Freight Station” located between the Old Colony line and that of the Middleborough and Taunton just southeast of the intersection of Vine and May Streets. In 1859, the inconvenience of this arrangement was eliminated when the railroads' freight buildings were relocated to the east side of the tracks, thereby obviating the need for freight-laden wagons to continually cross the tracks in a ceaseless parade. Middleborough’s early railroad freight situation was also deficient for other reasons, particularly the express freight as described in the pages of the Namasket Gazette in January, 1854.

Mr. Washburn, the carrier of express freight in this village, says a considerable portion of the time, the evening train from Boston, and the one by which the most express freight is expected here, does not make the stop here necessary for delivering parcels from the cars. Consequently, he runs alongside the train, catching such bundles [as] are tossed out to him, dropping them on the ground, and catching more, until the train has arrived at a speed which he can keep pace with no longer, when perhaps half the packages intended for this place are still in the express car. The next morning they may be brought back from Fall River, perhaps.
The conductor of the train accommodates as well as he can: but a sense of the danger he will be in from the approaching steamboat train, impels him to the necessity of driving on.

One positive development during this era, however, was the development of sidings for those enterprises located directly adjacent to the tracks. During the summer of 1863, a side track was constructed to I. H. Harlow & Company’s steam mill located nearly opposite the depot on Vine Street, and the possibility of similar arrangements would continue to attract industrial enterprises to the immediate neighborhood throughout the remainder of the century.

Though initially supported by local business concerns as a welcome incentive for economic growth, the unnecessary and inconvenient duplication of railroad services offered by three competing railroads (and their higgledy-piggledy arrangement at the Middleborough rail yard) was later regarded with dissatisfaction. By 1867, the Middleboro Gazette was advocating the establishment of a union depot to house the three roads under one roof. Though this never materialized, consolidation did come (though perhaps not as expected) as each of the three railroads was absorbed into the Old Colony system, a process completed by 1874.

The 1887 Old Colony Freight House

Under the direction of the Old Colony, proposals for the redevelopment of the entire Middleborough rail yard were implemented in the latter half of the 1880s. A new brick depot was built and opened in July, 1887, and a 50,000 gallon water tank for "outward" trains was erected at the south end of the yard. The grounds were landscaped to create an inviting, park-like atmosphere.

At this time, as well, the existing freight facilities were upgraded and the present freight house between Station and Cambridge Streets was built, being completed in June, 1887, with reminders of the old rail yard being removed. The old freight house dating from the mid-1850s was purchased by Eugene P. LeBaron of Middleborough and dismantled, and its site utilized for the construction of a newer, larger freight facility.

The Old Colony’s new Middleborough freight depot was constructed in 1887 - not 1886 as is usually stated. In its issue of May 5, 1887, the Plymouth Old Colony Memorial reported: "Last Thursday the ground was staked for Middleboro's new freight depot. The building will be 156 x 35 feet with a platform ten feet wide facing the tracks. It will be placed near the site of the present freight house."

The freight house, a long rectangularly-shaped and cavernous building, with a long overhanging eave on its west side (which created a canopy over the freight platform), was designed by Earl E. Rider of Middleborough. Rider was a noted architect for the Old Colony Railroad, who, by 1876, had designed over one hundred depots for that company. In the years between 1876 and construction of the freight depot in 1887, Rider continued to design both passenger and freight depots for the Old Colony, in addition to other projects. The mansard-roofed residence which he built for himself still stands on Elm Street near the Middleborough rail yard.

Victorian Era Railroad Freighting in Middleborough

“In the 1892 issue of the Middleboro Directory, in an interesting survey of the town as it was then, is the statement ‘It is as a railroad center that Middleboro can claim distinction of fortunate and providential location.’ At that time, Middleboro was also a junction for freight from all points.” So wrote Mertie Romaine in her History of the Town of Middleboro of the importance of Middleborough’s freighting business. Clearly, the size of the existing Old Colony
Freight House in contrast to other freight depots of the era is indicative of the level of freighting which occurred at Middleborough Center. In 1904, the freight house was valued for tax purposes at $4,000, a further indication of the building’s substantial nature in handling the bulk of the community’s freight.

Unless a company operated its own rail siding, its freight business passed through the freight house where it would be handled by the freight agent who was responsible for arranging its delivery. While some Middleborough companies such as W. M. Haskins & Company, J. K. & B. Sears & Company, and J. L. Jenney on Vine Street, and the George E. Keith and C. P. Washburn Companies on Cambridge Street were able to construct sidings to accommodate their shipping needs, all others had to make use of the Old Colony Freight House for the shipment and receipt of their goods. Consequently, large quantities of raw wool, leather, straw, cranberries, shoes, straw hats, lumber, boxes, woolen cloth and other materials, manufactured goods and produce continually flowed through the building.

Agricultural goods shipped through the Middleborough freight house included produce ranging from cranberries, to milk, to garden crops and it frequently warranted additional freight cars. In 1888, the Old Colony was compelled to add a so-called “potato train as one of the night freights. It is loaded principally at Middleboro, Portsmouth and Tiverton.” Raw fluid milk was also an increasingly important item shipped through Middleborough. In 1876, Middleborough and Lakeville farmers began "exporting" raw milk to Boston, and by January, 1877, they were shipping 800 quarts daily into the Boston market, sealed in 8 quart cans. During the mid-1880s, the Old Colony Milk Producers Association, successor to the Middleboro and Lakeville Milk Association, oversaw the incipient growth of local dairying and the consequent increase in milk shipments, sending some 38,361 cans of milk to Boston alone for the year ending October 1, 1883. However, by in large the most important agricultural crop shipped on the Old Colony from Middleborough was each autumn’s shipment of cranberries. Bumper crops could effectively tie up freight operations at the depot for weeks.

The expansive residential growth of Middleborough center during this same period further facilitated the freight business as commercial enterprise expanded and consumerism increased. The vast majority of merchandise retailed in Middleborough’s stores was received through the Old Colony Freight House. Just a single firm, that of M. H. Cushing & Co. at Middleborough Four Corners, was stated to handle “two hundred carloads of merchandise” annually, all of which passed through the freight house.

To coordinate the flow of freight through the Middleborough freight house, the Old Colony employed freight agents whose job was to expedite shipments as efficiently as possible. In 1889, two were engaged for Middleborough, Ira M. Thomas who resided on Center Street, and Ezra B. Ellis who lived on Southwick Street. Like many railroad employees at the time, both men lived within a short walk of their place of employment. To further aid with the flow of freight through Middleborough, Michael Cronan of Vine Street was engaged as yard master.

Freighting was particularly heavy during the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th, leading to considerable congestion in the Middleborough rail yard. Aggravating the freight situation was the fact that as an important rail junction, Middleborough had developed as a transfer point where goods from one train were transferred to other trains bound for different destinations, most frequently Cape Cod. “The transfer office … is much doing, as the smaller stations on the Cape ship mixed carloads of cranberries and other stuff which have to be sorted at the transfer station to make carload lots and then hurried to their destination.” While this task was earlier accomplished at the freight house, by the 1890s, a one story transfer station had been erected between the tracks immediately southwest of the 1887 depot to facilitate this process. The freight house remained for the receipt of goods designated for Middleborough as well as the shipment of goods and products originating there.

Railroad freighting through Middleborough remained unhampered by the relatively high fares charged by the Old Colony and its successor, the New York, New Haven & Hartford which leased the Old Colony beginning March 1, 1893. Though freight rates continued to fall during the era, the New Haven’s were among the highest in the region, in contrast to its passenger rates. Whereas the average freight rate per ton-mile for the Boston & Albany was 87 cents and that for the Boston & Maine was $1.04, the New Haven’s was $1.42. Nonetheless, because of the virtual regional monopoly held by the New Haven, freight rates did not deter activity at the freight house which remained constant throughout the era, though with the occasional downturn. In fact, so steady was freight business in the Middleborough rail yard that problems of congestion eventually prompted calls for improvement in the community’s freight facilities during the first years of the new century.

In September, 1906, station agent Elijah A. Small of Middleborough reported the rapid increase in the local freight business and the amount of goods passing through the freight house:

During July the local business jumped 30 per cent, and at present it is about 50 per cent greater than a year ago. The many cars of lumber arriving for new buildings, together with the brick conduits for the underground telephone construction, as well as regular goods, which have also increased, have kept the men on the jump…. With the cranberry shipments now coming on the yard will be still more congested.

The heavy amount of freight passing through both the Middleborough freight house and the transfer station entailed a number of concerns. One was that expansion of freight facilities was not keeping pace with the increase in freight traffic through the yard. “The yard here, it is stated, is becoming outgrown by the increasing volume of business, but nothing definite appears in regard to plans for an improvement in the facilities.” Consequently, the transfer station, particularly, was forced to operate both day and night crews. Plans to remedy this situation which affected the operation of the freight house were not proposed until 1909, and a somewhat more permanent solution which would have more seriously impacted the freight house and which was mooted in 1911 was never implemented. Instead, local residents took it upon themselves to help eliminate deficiencies in local freight service. In June, 1910, Thomas G. Sisson applied for and was granted a license as agent of the Eagle Express Company to charter a private freight car to run daily between Middleborough and Boston. “In this manner the freight from Boston can be handled more expeditiously, as the car would not have to go through the transfer house.”

The freight congestion in the yard also demanded the appointment of a yard master to better coordinate the handling of freight so that “consignees may get better service.” For several years, Middleborough had been without such a yardmaster, and though a request was made for the appointment of one in 1906, the railroad did not act upon it for another year.

Heavy freight traffic, both in terms of transfers and receipts at the Middleborough freight house inevitably led to mis-shipped goods. In late 1905, the Middleborough shoe manufacturing concern of Leonard & Barrows brought legal suit against the New Haven Railroad Company, alleging the loss of a number of bundles of sole leather which were consigned to the railroad for shipment to the firm’s plant at Middleborough. Leonard & Barrows subsequently received a judgment for $523. As late as May, 1907, when Ira Thomas accepted a position in the Tracing Department of the Middleborough freight office, work tracking freight was described as “badly congested.”

Freight congestion on the tracks of the Middleborough yard frequently confined passenger traffic to but two lines passing through the yard, as was the case in 1907 when the Fall River and Plymouth trains were forced to share one line, and later again in 1909 and 1912, a development which had the potential for inconveniencing passengers and disrupting passenger traffic, a most important business for the New Haven. Additionally, conditions among freight handlers were such that in May, 1903 they went on strike, exacerbating the local situation and inconveniencing freight customers. "The strike of the freight handlers of the railroad has been felt by local marketmen and provision dealers, as much meat and perishable material has had to be forwarded by express, instead of freight, thereby entailing a considerable increase in expense. One marketman was taxed $5 for a consignment of meat that arrived by express, Thursday, when ordinarily the bill for its transportation would have been about one-tenth of that sum."

Most seriously of all, however, the ever increasing number of freight trains passing through or idling in the Middleborough yard increased the likelihood of serious accidents. On November 5, 1906, one of the worst freight disasters to have occurred to date on the Middleborough line occurred at the station when an express freight drawn by two engines barreled into the up Cape local freight which was idling in the yard. The first engine, number 610, of the express collided with such force with the rear of the local freight train that the caboose of the latter was forced into and virtually on top of the refrigerator car in front of it which was packed with cranberries.

Following this incident, accidents involving freight trains became more frequent at Middleborough. Delays in moving the down Cape trains from Middleborough which were compelled to utilize the northbound track between Middleborough and Rock may have contributed to a second freight collision when a heavy freight train bound for Provincetown was struck by a small passenger train from Boston near the Middleborough yard in July, 1907. On June 19, 1908, an oil car attached to a freight train caught fire and exploded in the Middleborough yard, while “a coal car attached to an engine bumped a string of cars, demolishing one, and damaging three others badly”, on July 5, 1910.

Additionally, the heaviness of freight trains could cause accidents as well. In October, 1910, the Fairhaven extra freight train was so heavily loaded that it was unable to get up a steep grade on its approach to the Middleborough rail yard.

It became necessary to part it and double it into the yard, the rear section being left on the main line [about a mile south of the station] in charge of a flagman, while the forward end of the train was on its way to the Middleboro yard. While the rear section was on the main line, the light engine came bowling along the rails and smashed into the caboose [of the parked train} before the engineer could slow down…. The engine smashed through the caboose, reducing it to kindling wood and setting it on fire. Two large steel coal cars, just out of the shop at Sagamore, were also derailed and badly twisted…. The rails were somewhat warped because of the intense heat.

Fortunately, there were few injuries in all these accidents.

Freight remained heavy, and despite the spate of accidents and near accidents, it was not until September 14, 1907, that a yard master finally was appointed in the person of William Murphy to help regulate the passage of freight through the Middleborough yard.

The Panic of August, 1907, however, brought with it a downturn in business and a consequent drop in freight traffic, so much so that a number of employees in the freight department were laid off at Middleborough in late January, 1908. Business, continued to remain light through the year, “especially the through western business”, and lay offs continued.

Proposed Changes

During the last years of the 1890s, New Haven Railroad officials had looked towards expanding Middleborough's freight facilities to better facilitate handling in the Middleborough yard. In January and early February, 1900, a survey was conducted in the vicinity of what was known as Depot Grove or Depot Park, the land now occupied by the local V. F. W. Post on the east side of Station Street. At the time the survey was undertaken, it was noted that "the need of a new transfer station has been felt for the past 5 years, the old building on the westerly side of the tracks proving inadequate to this constantly increasing portion of the freight business." Ultimately, the proposed plan called for Station and Courtland Streets to be closed to through traffic with a new street along the railroad's easternmost property line being constructed to connect the two, as well as creating an intersection with the western end of Southwick Street. The land to the west of this new street would be devoted to a new "mammoth" freight yard in the center of which would be located a new freight house. Among townspeople, "there was a sentiment that it would not be advisable to block the railroad company's large plans for making Middleboro one of its most important freight transfer centres in this section."

In 1909, a proposal was mooted for improvements in the Middleborough rail yard, including substantial changes to the freight operation. While the public was drawn most to proposed changes in the alignment of Station Street which would have created a new more direct approach to the passenger station, as well as the proposed aesthetic enhancements to the immediate vicinity of the existing station, important changes were to be made to upgrade the existing freight facilities which pleased local users.

For years, the muddy ground about the freight house had been noted as both an annoyance and an impediment to freighting. “The faults which the present situation presents are too obvious to require discussion: insufficient drainage, resulting in muddy approaches … and difficulties in teaming about the freight house; poor street lighting, [and] a large and unsightly area of vacant land…”

Also problematic was the fact that Middleborough’s transfer business had outgrown the existing transfer station which was located southwest of the depot between the tracks. In 1903, a 103 by 20 foot addition had been constructed onto the easterly end of the transfer station "to accomodate three ordinary sized freight cars on each side" and in April, 1910, the transfer station was again increased in size, although only through means of a temporary expedient. “Two freight cars have been placed at each end and have been planked over to make more platform room to handle that big business.” The arrangement, however, was intended merely as a temporary expedient, as plans for a more permanent solution had been drafted by the New Haven. “The company contemplates the removal of their present freight house to a point nearer the passenger station, and the combination of the transfer and freight facilities. This is especially pleasing to the merchants, as it means not only more prompt freighting, but a more desirable location for hauling.” The transfer station was to be relocated just to the south of the freight house (“to make the handling of freight more expeditious”), replacing the derrick which stood on the site.

Hopes for an improvement in Middleborough’s freight facilities lingered for a number of years, but ultimately nothing ever came of the plan which was apparently killed by the bureaucracy of the New Haven Railroad. In March, 1911, it was reported that “it is understood that the contract for moving the transfer station has been let to a Boston firm”, though the report acknowledged that the work had been expected to have been completed previously.

When the town officials and the railroad company agreed that the plans were O. K. it was thought something soon would transpire, and that the road would have been finished long ago. But when the plans got out of town they were evidently lost. Some months ago, when a town official asked about them he was informed that they were in New Haven, awaiting the approval of some one higher up. Later the same official again asked about them, and he was advised that the contract had been let and that the job had been completed, and the railroad officials were much surprised when the town officer informed them that Middleboreans were still wading through the same puddles and mud banks in wet weather….

One change which was implemented, however, was the replacement of the existing rails between Middleborough and Campello in late November and early December 1910 with heavier steel rails in preparation for the railroad’s plan to run heavier trains over the line during the subsequent summer.

Decline

Eventually, railroad freighting entered into a decline during the first decades of the 20th century, a victim of motor transport which was increasingly utilized for regional freighting, given its greater utility and lesser expense. On April 27, 1924, Middleborough ceased to be a terminal station and its change to the status of mainline station had far-reaching consequences. As reported at the time:

The change does away with Middleboro as a terminal, both on freight and passenger trains. It does away with the engine house, transfer house, three yard crews, one freight crew and three passenger crews.... The work of the transfer house is now absorbed by the Plymouth, Brockton and Boston stations, and a traveling switcher from campello cares for the local yard work. Middleboro was one of the large terminals and the five lines merging here made it the logical junction for this section.

Although "the passenger and local freight station conditions are left intact" by the change, the result of the status change was "that the yard, with the exception of a few freight cars for local service, looks as barren as a desert." Editor Lorenzo Wood of the Middleboro Gazette, hinting at the New Haven's increasing notoriety for making what were publicly perceived as bad decisions, was sarcastically critical of the railroad's decision to downgrade the Middleborough station, writing

from all that we are able to learn the New Haven railroad is not making a howling success of its new plan for cutting out the freight and transfer business from Middleboro. The fact is that Middleboro is a natural junction and so situated that it is very difficult to unmake it. Junctions like poets, are born, not made and unless the railroad is able to unhitch cape Cod and fit it on some other spot on the Atlantic coast, middleboro will still be a vantage point worth much consideration.

The concern expressed by Wood was not merely a point of pride. By the New Haven's decision, some 100 plus employees based in Middleborough lost their jobs.

By 1930, local freight traffic had dropped drastically, and in 1935 the New Haven filed for bankruptcy. Between 1934 and 1937, the former Plymouth & Middleboro line operated strictly as a branch line to North Carver to accommodate cranberry growers there, and in 1937 that branch was abandoned along with the line between Middleborough and Myricks.

The Old Colony Freight House, however, itself had been abandoned for freight purposes a number of years earlier. With the decline of freight received through the railroad yard, and mounting financial difficulties for the Old Colony Division of the N. Y., N. H. & H., a decision was made to lease this building. As early as 1932, the C. P. Washburn Company occupied the building, utilizing it for the storage of “lime, cement, pipe & insulation” ancillary to its building supply business. In February, 1940, the railroad formally sold the property to the C. P. Washburn Company which utilized it for the following fifty plus years as part of its building supply business.

Illustrations:

No Trespassing Sign, Old Colony Railroad Freight House, Middleborough, MA, photographed by Michael J. Maddigan, May 21, 2006

Old Colony Railroad Freight House, north side, Middleborough, MA, photographed by Michael J. Maddigan, May 21, 2006

Map of the Town of Middleborough, Plymouth County, Mass. (detail). H. F. Walling, 1855.
Walling’s 1855 map of Middleborough clearly shows the original freight station which stood on the west side of the Middleborough rail yard between 1848 and 1859 when a new freight house was raised east of the tracks.

Middleborough, Plymouth County, Mass. (detail). New York: J. B. Beers & Co., 1874.
By 1874 when Beers & Company published a new map of Middleborough (a portion of which is shown above), the Middleborough freight facilities had been relocated to the east side of the tracks to a site near the one presently occupied by the Old Colony Freight House. The rapid growth of Middleborough as a rail center was clearly depicted in the nexus of tracks which formed the Middleborough rail yard, an outcome of the town’s position as an important transfer site.

Middleboro, Mass. 1881. (detail) Framingham, MA: E. H. Bigelow, 1881.
The sole extant visual record of the 1859 freight station which immediately preceded the 1887 Old Colony Freight House appears to be Bigelow’s 1881 pictorial map of Middleborough which shows a relatively small structure. Undoubtedly, the capacity of the building failed to keep pace with the community’s freight requirements. It was sold to Eugene P. LeBaron and replaced with the current structure.

Old Colony Railroad Freight House, Middleborough, MA, photograph c. 1888.
This is the earliest known view of the 1887 Old Colony Freight House taken sometime shortly after its construction. The building was designed by Earl E. Rider of Middleborough, architect for the Old Colony Railroad, as a simple gable-roofed structure with six bays on either side. The freight office was located in the south end of the building with windows facing the rail yard. Access to the freight platform was also from this end of the building. Here a team waits to offload its freight.

Old Colony Railroad Freight House, detail of bracketing under platform eave, photographed by Michael J. Maddigan, May 21, 2006

The extension of the freight house roofline created a covered platform to shelter freight workers during inclement weather. To support the roof fourteen turned posts were used, their design adding a degree of architectural detail lacking from most utilitarian structures of this type.

Middleborough, Massachusetts. 1889. (detail). Boston: O. H. Bailay, 1889.
In 1889, a second pictorial map of Middleborough was published, this time depicting the 1887 Old Colony Freight House just two years after its construction. It was, by far, the largest structure in the vicinity, its size an indication of Middleborough’s importance as a freight center. Today’s structure is little changed from that depicted over a century ago. Clearly visible are the six large bays which opened onto the freight platform.

"Railway Station, Middleboro, Mass." (detail). New York: The Leighton & Valentine Co., c. 1900, lithochrome postcard.

The relative situation of the Old Colony Freight House (the buff-colored building just right of center in this view) to both the Old Colony’s brick passenger depot (seen on the left), as well as the C. P. Washburn Grain Mill (above the boxcar) is clearly depicted in this view taken in the first decade of the 20th century. The earthen area surrounding both the freight house and passenger depot was notoriously muddy in wet weather, making teaming difficult in the area surrounding the freight house.

Railyard, Middleborough, MA, photograph, c. 1900.

This view of the southern portion of the Middleborough railyard clearly depicts the freight congestion that could be experienced there. In the middle distance, above the third boxcar from the left, can be seen the freight transfer station on either side of which are a cluster of freight box cars awaiting handling. Further in the distance, behind the second smokestack from the left, the roof of the 1887 freight house may be glimpsed. The passenger station is recognizable just beyond and to the right of the transfer station.

Plate 26, "Middleboro" (detail) from Atlas of Surveys: Plymouth County and the Town of Cohasset, Norfolk County, Mass. Np: The L. J. Richards Company, 1903.
The 1903 map of Middleborough (with the town-owned Washburn site outlined in red), clearly shows the 1887 Old Colony Freight House. The structure on the present Washburn site on Center Avenue just north of the freight house is the Swift & Company cold storage warehouse. North of Center Avenue on the Washburn site appear the footprints of a long coal shed abutting the tracks and the C. P. Washburn Grain Mill at the intersection of Center and Cambridge Streets. The further development of the Middleborough rail yard since 1874 may be seen by comparing the maps of those two years. The large number of tracks in the Middleborough yard facilitated the sorting of freight.

Freight Train Accident, Middleborough Railyard, Walter L. Beals, photographer, November 5, 1906
Walter L. Beals of Middleborough photographed the results of the November 5, 1906, collision in the Middleborough rail yard, a decided result of the heavy freight congestion the yard witnessed in the early years of the century. Here, the caboose of the first freight train has been pushed into and on top of the refrigerated car in front of it which was filled with cranberries, barrels of which may be seen at the front of the car. Though the photograph depicts what was clearly a devastating accident, it had actually been much worse. Beals photographed the scene only after the New Haven’s wrecker had removed the engine of the second train which had caused the accident.

C. P. Washburn Grain Mill and former Old Colony Freight House, Middleborough, MA, photographic halftone, c. 1970
As early as 1932, the C. P. Washburn Company was making use of the former Old Colony Freight House to house a portion of its building supply business. The Company made minimal changes in the building, sheathing the south end of the structure, and closing off some of the former freight bays.

Architectural Models, Old Colony Freight House, looking from the northeast, southwest and southeast, designed by Michael J. Maddigan
The original appearance of the Old Colony Freight House is shown in these computerized architectural renderings. The building was a simple wood frame six-bay two-story gable-roofed structure. As such, it was typical of similar freight houses designed and constructed throughout the region during the latter half of the 19th century. What made the Middleborough freight house somewhat unique, however, was its large size, designed to accommodate the heavy freight business of the community. Freight would be received from trains which would draw along the freight platform. Freight agents would be responsible for receipt of goods which would be conveyed to their ultimate destination by local teamsters. The depot freight contract was a lucrative proposition for which local teamsters would vie with one another. Goods shipped through the freight house including manufactured goods such as straw hats, woolen cloth, bricks, varnish and shoes; agricultural produce such as milk, cranberries, lumber and potatoes, were also diligently handled by the freight agent and the yard master who was responsible for the organization of freight cars within the yard. The transference of goods between trains was conducted at the transfer station which was located between the tracks just southwest of the passenger depot.

Sources

Archival Sources
Middleborough Public Library
Thompson Collection
Plymouth County Registry of Deeds
Land records pertaining to the Washburn properties

Unpublished Sources
C. P. Washburn Company Records

John D. Rockwell papers
Request for Proposals: C. P. Washburn Grain Mill, Middleborough,
Massachusetts. Middleborough, MA: Middleborough Office of Economic and Community Development, May, 1999.
Woodward, William McKenzie. Middleborough Center Historic District National
Register Nomination. 1999.

Periodicals
The Middleborough Antiquarian, Middleborough, MA
Middleboro Gazette, Middleborough, MA
The Middleborough Gazette and Old Colony Advertiser, Middleborough, MA
The Namasket Gazette, Middleborough, MA
Old Colony Memorial, Plymouth, MA

Maps
Map of the Town of Middleborough, Plymouth County, Mass. H. F. Walling,
1855.
Middleborough, Plymouth Co., Mass. New York: J. B. Beers & Company, 1874.
“Village of Middleborough, Mass.” Atlas of Plymouth County, Mass. Boston:
George H. Walker & Company, 1879.
Middleboro, Mass. 1881. Framingham, MA: E. H. Bigelow, 1881.
Middleboro. New York: Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited, August, 1885.
Middleborough, Massachusetts, 1889. Boston: O. H. Bailay, 1889.
Middleboro, Plymouth County, Mass. New York: Sanborn-Perris Map Co.,
Limited, May, 1891.
Middleboro, Plymouth County, Mass. New York: Sanborn-Perris Map Co.,
Limited, June, 1896.
Middleboro, Plymouth County, Mass. New York: Sanborn-Perris Map Co.,
Limited, April, 1901.
Atlas of Surveys: Plymouth County and Town of Cohasset, Norfolk County,
Mass. N. p.: The L. J. Richards Co., 1903.
Insurance Maps of Middleboro Plymouth County Massachusetts. New York:
Sanborn Map Company, March, 1906.
Insurance Maps of Middleboro Plymouth County Massachusetts. New York:
Sanborn Map Company, January, 1912.
Middleboro Including Waterville, Rock, Lakeville and North Middleboro, Plymouth
County, Massachusetts. New York: Sanborn Map Company, January, 1925.
Middleboro Including Waterville, Rock, Lakeville and North Middleboro, Plymouth
County, Massachusetts: New Report, September, 1932. New York: Sanborn Map Company, September, 1932.

Reports
“Valuations for the Town of Middleborough for the Year 1904”, in Annual Report
of the Town Officers of Middleborough, Mass., for the Year 1904. Middleborough: The Middleboro Gazette, 1905.

Published Histories
History of the Old Colony Railroad: A Complete History of the Old Colony
Railroad from 1844 to the Present Time in Two Parts. Boston: Hager and Handy, n. d.
Romaine, Mertie E. History of the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts. Volume
II. New Bedford, MA: Reynolds-DeWalt Printing, Inc., 1969.
Weston, Thomas. History of the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts. Boston:
Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906.