19-23 Water Street

History

The Gunnison Building is a two-story brick commercial block capped by a later mansard roof dating to approximately 1870. The slate-clad roof includes recessed dormers and gives the structure its prominent Second Empire profile.

The brickwork is laid in stretcher bond, with seven courses of stretchers alternating with a single course combining headers and stretchers. The upper façade shows evidence of sandblasting, while the first story was substantially reconstructed around 1970.

The Water Street elevation consists of ten evenly spaced bays. The upper-story windows are wood replacement 6/6 sash set in brick lintels with stone sills, the lintels rising nearly to a dentil course at the cornice. The first-floor openings align with those above and take the form of segmental arches filled with single-pane display windows over anodized metal bulkheads. The southwest corner of the building is angled, a distinctive element of the plan.

The east elevation contains eight bays of 6/6 sash, with slightly smaller windows on the upper level. An early 20th-century three-panel door remains at the rear. The west elevation includes seven 6/6 sash at the upper floor, along with a large single-pane opening that replaced an earlier loft door. The first floor displays five 6/6 windows and a late-19th-century double-door opening. A former loading bay with a stone lintel has been infilled with plate glass. At the rear, a two-story wooden deck with iron railings, added circa 1970, is accessed by sliding patio doors.

The storage and warehouse structures that once extended behind the building were demolished during Urban Renewal.

In the 1830s and 1840s, William Gunnison assembled a series of parcels at what is now 19–23 Water Street, ultimately replacing an earlier structure with the brick commercial block that survives today. Until approximately 1920, the property was identified as 15–19 Water Street. By 1849, city directories list William Gunnison & Son, dealers in flour and grain, operating from the site. By 1852, the business had expanded to include the sale of wood and coal at 17 and 21 Water Street, while William Gunnison, a blacksmith, worked from 15 Water Street. Over time, the blacksmith operation evolved into a machine shop.

During the 1870s, Albert F. Hunt operated a steam printing shop at 17 Water Street, and the building also housed a manufactory producing drive belts for line-shaft machinery. In 1873, W. Everett Pearson, working in his shop within the Gunnison Building, constructed the first stationary “donkey” steam engine ever installed on a Newburyport-built vessel. Pearson also fabricated boilers for the local shipbuilding industry, underscoring the building’s long association with maritime trades.

The structure suffered at least two major fires, each resulting in a complete interior reconstruction. A significant fire on January 14, 1873, destroyed the nearby Payne Block, owned by Charles Coffin and adjacent to the Custom House. By May 6 of the same year, the Newburyport Herald reported that repairs to the Payne building were complete, and that William Noyes intended to use the space for a comb manufactory, although his tenancy was short-lived. The building’s mansard roof—an alteration that reshaped its architectural profile—appears to date from this post-fire reconstruction period.

In the late 19th century, the building was surrounded by the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company operations. By 1874, John C. Stanley, junk dealer, was located at 17 Water Street. Later directories describe Stanley as the proprietor of a hardware store. In 1898, William Holker succeeded Stanley as the owner of the hardware store at 15-17 Water Street. By 1906, Holker had moved to Market Square, and the building was completely vacant. Only the west third was in use in 1914, serving as storage for the National Biscuit Company. The 1924 map labels the building as vacant but indicates it is to be used as a garage. By 1946, steel posts and beams had been inserted on the first floor. Most of the building was occupied by the Baird & Eliot Inc. furniture store, and a significant addition on the rear served as storage for road-building equipment. Today, after its c. 1970 rehabilitation, the building houses apartments and an antique shop.