4-10 Market Square

History

The North Row Building at 4-10 Market Square is a three-story brick building that predates but is similar in scale and detailing to many of the other commercial buildings fronting the Square.

Collectively, the Market Square buildings constitute one of the largest and least altered groups of early 19th-century commercial buildings in New England. The bulk of the North Row dates to the late 18th or early 19th century, while the west end was reconstructed in 1976. All of the windows and doors appear to have been replaced as part of the 1976 renovation. Above the storefront level, the brick is laid in Flemish bond. Slight variations in brick color, bond, and mortar indicate that much of the first-floor brickwork has been replaced, except for the eastern third of the building.

The block has a slightly rounded corner at its west end and is capped by a low, hipped asphalt roof with a gable end to the east. The eastern half of the building has a continuous brick cornice, while the remaining half has a more dentil-like cornice. Visible on the windowless east gable end is faded painted signage reading “Biscuit” as well as several circular iron tie rods.

The first floor is divided into five storefronts of similar size. The three storefronts on the east end display a trabeated system of granite posts and lintels forming the storefront, a style which was popular during the Greek Revival period, c. 1830-40, and allowed for wider window openings than had previously been the case. Each of these doorways is flanked by a pair of granite posts and features a multi-pane wooden door with a lower horizontal panel, sidelights, and a transom. To each side, there is a large 3 x 2-light picture window. The next storefront to the west is more Federal in its detailing, with a smaller 3 x 3-light picture window, double doors capped by a semi-elliptical fanlight, an arched fixed window, and a door with a semicircular fanlight. On the westernmost storefront, part of the 1976 reconstruction, the multilight windows and doors are capped by individual granite sills.

The second-story facade windows contain 12/8 sash, while those on the upper floor are slightly smaller and contain 8/8 sash. The windows on this building lack the splayed lintels that are prevalent elsewhere on the Square and a regular fenestration rhythm. Some of the windows on the North Row are capped by lintels consisting of header brick laid on end. Whereas most of the buildings on the Square display a consistent three-bay width of the row structures, the individual components of North Row display variations ranging from two to four bays wide. In two cases, where one would expect a central bay of windows, there is a solid wall or a window on only one of the two floors. Above the second-floor window near the center of the building is a granite stone inscribed “North Row”.

On the rear elevation, facing the waterfront, a series of modern, three-level decks has been constructed, and the windows contain replacement 1/1 sash. Behind the building is a small, circa 1980 brick storage building capped by an asphalt-shingled hip roof. Facing the boardwalk leading to the waterfront, a pair of four-panel double doors is set in a corner block molding.

Market Square’s role as a commercial center goes back to the days when Native Americans met early explorers from England, France, and Holland on the banks of the Merrimack River to trade furs and fish. With the completion of the canal linking Newburyport and inland areas in 1796, Market Square became the trading center for much of interior New England and parts of the Canadian border country as well. At the height of port activity, as many as seven wharves extended from Market Square into the Merrimack River. North Row’s exact date of construction is not known, although it predates the 1811 fire. The May 31, 1811, fire destroyed all of the buildings in the Square area except the North Row.

Located between Railroad Avenue and City Wharf, North Row was historically home to merchants who met a variety of needs. In the 19th century, additional frame buildings extended behind the building. These are no longer extant, nor is the freight depot, which once stood to the east of the building. Directories indicate that in 1869, J.B. Seward, “restorator,” was located at 9 Market Square. In 1872, J.B. & E. Knight sold flour, grain, and meal at 6-7 Market Square. During the late 19th century and well into the 20th century, the storefront at 6-8 Market Square was occupied by a tin shop. Other stores in the Row sold hardware and paint. H.J. Plummer & Co. sold stoves and tinware at 9 Market Square in 1890. In the late 1800s, the building was owned by Solomon Bachman, who owned the Caleb Cushing house on High Street as a summer home. Among the occupants of the building during this period were the New York Liquor Store, and then the coffee room and reading room of the W.C.T.U.

By 1909, Robert McKinney had embalming rooms on the second floor above a pool room. By about 1920, the ground floor was occupied by an auto accessory/vulcanizing business operated by McKinney, the younger, and gas pumps were installed in 1919. Andrew “Bossy” Gillis purchased the building in 1928 or 1929, but did not occupy it until after the Million Dollar Fire of 1934. In 1941, Gillis’ gas station took over the entire ground floor at 4 Market Square. The upper floor was converted into an apartment in the mid-1940s. The last occupant of the bulk of the building in the 1960s was Dugan Supply, a plumbing and hardware business.

During Urban Renewal, this building (designated as Parcel 6) was restored by private developers in accordance with the rehabilitation standards of the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority. In 1968, the west end of the Row, consisting of Bossy Gillis’ gas station, was demolished. The buildings behind North Row were removed. The west end of the building was reconstructed, and the remainder was rehabilitated in 1976 by James MacFarland of West Roxbury.