57 State Street

History

The present appearance of this mid-19th-century block is nearly entirely the result of Colonial Revival-style alterations made in 1960. The three-story brick building measures three bays wide with a broad side-gabled profile.

As initially constructed, the building was Italianate in style with what appears to have been a sandstone or stuccoed façade, heavy segmental window lintels, and a bold cornice. The building now displays a fairly uniform brick face, and the window openings on the two upper floors contain 9/9 sash on the second floor with 9/6 windows above. All windows have projecting brick sills and no lintels. Modern shutters flank the window openings. A raised brick band of two courses appears between the tops of the windows and the projecting cornice. The exposed side elevation is stuccoed; the roof is covered with asphalt shingles.

The first floor is also three bays wide. The bay to the viewer’s right contains the main entrance with its entablature surround supported by Doric pilasters with cabling. Triglyph-like blocks decorate the entrance cornice. The two adjacent windows feature modern 9/9 windows with applied mullions, with a single shutter flanking each. A long wooden sign band is mounted above the first-floor openings. Above this is a wooden cornice with a wide frieze, modillion blocks, and end consoles with raised pyramids and fluting. Between the two first-floor windows is a bronze plaque commemorating the men who left (from the building?) in 1861 to fight in the Civil War. The plaque was erected in 1924.

Historic photographs indicate that the building originally had a central entrance with glazed double doors, large display windows, and decorative columns.

The former Grand Army building has seen numerous changes since it was constructed in the mid-19th century. According to the plaque on the front of the building, a group of 24 officers and men left the building on April 16, 1861, in answer to Abraham Lincoln’s first call on April 15 for troops to defend the Capitol. The fact that they left from this building has not been verified.

According to local historian Dr. Ron Irving, the building was erected in 1853 by William J. Hodge for Amos Tappan. At the time, a hardware store occupied the first two floors, and Company A, Cushing Guard, occupied the top floor. The building was later owned by Henry J. Moulton, John Porter, Adams & Currier (as a carpet warehouse), Moulton & Currier, and Moulton & Morey. It was then sold to Boston parties.

On March 9, 1877, Albert W. Bartlett Post No. 49 of the Grand Army of the Republic purchased the building for $8,300 as a memorial building. The Post had been organized by Captain J.T. Lurvey on February 20, 1868, at Morss’ Hall at (29?) State Street. It was named for Albert W. Bartlett (1832–1862), who was killed in the Civil War at Antietam Bridge on September 17, 1862. He was in command of the Cushing Guards, the first company from Newburyport at the beginning of the war, and reportedly the first commissioned officer killed in action. Before the war, Bartlett was connected with a dry-goods store at 37 State Street (MHC2176). Bartlett rallied the members of his company on April 16, 1861, and entrained for Boston. For the first two years after its organization, the Post met in the armories of the Cushing Guard and City Cadets, located in Mechanics Hall, Hale’s Court, and Phenix Hall on State Street. In 1870, the Post leased Harrower’s Hall at the corner of State and Liberty Streets and first occupied the building at 57 State Street on April 13, 1877.

The building’s roof was blown off by a severe gale in April 1882. The roofline was raised at that time, and extensive interior renovations were made to the hall. The walls were raised, a new roof installed, the main hall arched and lengthened, new floors laid, the hall and ante-room frescoed, and water introduced.

Post No. 49 occupied the third floor into the 20th century and rented the lower floors to a variety of businesses. In 1869, E.F. Ballou, a jeweler, had the first-floor storefront, while the second floor was occupied by H.T. Crofoot & Co., paper box manufacturers and bookbinders, from the 1860s until at least the 1880s. By 1890, O’Connell’s dry-goods store occupied the first floor. Beginning about 1903 and for much of the 20th century, the first-floor storefront was occupied by (John) Osgood and (Charles) Goodwin’s dry-goods store, known as the Good-Win store. John Osgood died in 1937, but the store remained in business until 1959, five years after the death of Charles W. Goodwin. Goodwin began business in 1898 at 59 State Street (MHC361) and later moved operations to No. 57.

In 1960, the building was extensively altered to serve as the new home of the Arthur S. Page insurance company, formerly located in the Lunt building at 55 Pleasant Street (MHC353). The “remodeling and modernizing” was done by Newbury contractor Robert A. Bashaw, Jr., according to plans by Newburyport architect Russell M. Peirce.