249 High Street

History

Architecturally, this house is typical of the Federal homes built on High Street during the early years of the nineteenth century. The house has three stories, a hipped roof, and small, nearly square windows on the third floor. The home also has simple yet classically inspired cornice moulding and window lintels.

The doorway was altered during the Greek Revival period. The entrance porch was added at that time. The door is flanked by sidelights and Corinthian pilasters. The large and heavy entablature over the door is also a Greek Revival feature.

This house was built before 1799 by Stephen Toppan. It was sold to Dudley Atkins Tyng in that year. Tyng was a prominent member of the community during the period when Newburyport was prosperous due to its trade abroad.

Dudley Atkins Tyng was the son of Dudley and Sarah Atkins. He graduated from Harvard in 1781 and tutored for a time in Virginia. He was admitted to the bar in 1784, and in 1876, he returned to Massachusetts. He was appointed justice of the peace for Essex County. At about that time, a distant relative offered Dudley a considerable portion of her estate if he would take the name of Tyng. He did so in 1790.

In 1790, Tyng was a delegate to a convention held in Salem to help organize the Episcopal church in this country following the Revolution. Between 1795 and 1803, he moved to Boston and, for the next eighteen years, served as the official reporter of the Supreme Judicial Court. He returned to Newburyport in 1823.

When Tyng left Newburyport in 1804, he sold his home to Nathaniel Smith. In 1810, the property was conveyed to Captain Ruben Jones, whose widow lived in the house until 1855. At that time, Job T. Dickens acquired the property and modernized it.

In 1865, John D. Pike was in partnership with Horace Choate under the firm name of John D. Pike and Company. They were shoe manufacturers with a shop at 35 Pleasant Street.