203 High Street

History

This house is one of the finest homes on High Street. Although built during the Georgian period, the house has features of the Federal style that was to become so popular in Newburyport during the following decades. The house is three stories in height with a hipped roof and smaller windows on the third floor.

The modillioned cornice is exceptional. The window lintels are unlike those on High Street. They are almost arched, adding an interesting element to the building’s facade. The entrance portico is pedimented, and the entablature is supported by fluted Ionic columns. The door itself is flanked by Ionic pilasters. It also has a simple semi-circular fanlight.

The Lowell Johnson house was built about 1774 by John Lowell, a counsellor-at-law. He and Jonathan Jackson purchased five acres of land on High Street in 1771. Lowell built this house shortly thereafter, while Johnson built what would later be known as the Timothy Dexter House next door.

When Lowell moved to Boston, the parcel of land was partitioned between Lowell and Jackson. Lowell sold his part of the land with a dwelling house to Patrick Tracy.

Patrick Tracy owned this house for many years. The house was occupied by his son John, an enthusiastic supporter of the colonial government during the Revolution, who served as an aide-de-camp to General Glover in Rhode Island under General Sullivan. Tracy entertained the Marquis de Chastellux in this house in 1782. After the war, Tracy’s business was less prosperous, and he and his children, having inherited the house from Patrick Tracy, sold the house to Eleazer Johnson in several parcels about 1810.

Eleazer Johnson was born in 1773. He was engaged in commercial pursuits and, at one time, was the president of the Mechanics’ Bank in Newburyport. He died in 1847, leaving the house to his only son, Richard. The house belonged to Richard and his heirs until the late 20th century.