28-34 State Street

History

Located adjacent to Threadneedle Alley, 28-34 State Street is a three-story brick building which is nearly square in plan and displays a distinctive curved corner bay. The brickwork is laid in Flemish bond, and the eaves are decorated with a simple brick modillion cornice.

As evidenced by the patching of the first-floor brick, the first-floor storefronts were constructed c. 1970. Facing State Street, there is a series of eight arched openings, of which three are doorways. All of the arches are capped by header brick lintels above the fanlights. Lighting the upper stories of the State Street façade are eight bays of wooden replacement 6/6 sash with splayed sandstone lintels and simple stone sills. On the corner bay, the wall surface is found above the second-story window, which has a wide granite lintel (also curved). The second-story opening has a 6/6 window and a granite sill. The window above has a splayed sandstone lintel and sill. The alley elevation displays a less regular window pattern, approximately 3 bays deep, with 6/6 windows framed by granite sills and lintels.

An early 20th-century photograph of this block (see continuation sheet) shows a building that is quite different from the one seen today. At that time, all of the original windows had been removed and contained a 2/2 sash. The second-floor windows at 28-30 State Street were capped by Italianate-style entablature lintels resting on small blocks, and iron grillwork topped two of the storefronts. All of the storefronts featured large display windows flanking the center entrances, rather than the arched openings visible today.

This building was probably built shortly after the 1811 fire and is located on the site of the Old Davenport Tavern, which was destroyed in the fire. A “Reminiscences” article appearing in the Daily News in 1886 recalls that sixty or seventy years earlier, the three stores were occupied by Prescott Spaulding (34?), Edmund Swett (30?), and Francis B. Somerby (28?). Somerby’s store was a gathering place for customs officers, Democratic party leaders, and old sea captains. When there were customers in the front store, the rear was used for conversation.

In the 1850s, Simon Jordan’s boot shop and J.E. & W.H. Piper’s hat store shared space at 28 State Street, a space that was later taken over by Charles Daniel’s boot store. The storefront was later occupied by a dry goods store, then by a restaurant, and finally by a grocery store.

The first iron front installed in the city was reportedly at Samson Levy & Co., a dry goods merchant at 30 State Street, in the early 1880s. Levy operated a dry goods store here from about 1860 until about 1910. He was a native of Germany, held various political offices, and was active in the Democratic Party. He died on February 4, 1917. A sketch of the façade of Levy’s store appears in the October 10, 1890, issue of the Daily News. The storefront at 30 State Street was first occupied by Wilson’s Hardware and later by Cashman Hardware.

In the mid-19th century, the corner storefront was occupied by various millinery shops, including those operated by S.A. Currier and later by Mary Wilkinson. By the early 20th century, Fred Peabody had a music and musical instruments store here, which was followed by P.J. Simon’s musical instrument store. This block was redeveloped in the early 1970s by the Restoration Design Group of Portsmouth, as part of the rehabilitation of what was known as Parcel 10 in Urban Renewal.

A bronze plaque mounted on the alley wall indicates that on this site in 1774, the Independent Marine Company was formed by members of the Newburyport Marine Society under Captain James Hudson. This was the first militia company of seamen mustered to defend American rights. The plaque was dedicated in 1974 by the Newburyport Marine Militia.