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Hike Through History 1997
Proceed down the Central School driveway and turn right onto Main Strreet, (or Portland Avenue) passing the front of Dunkin Donuts. Stop in front of the large white and brick colonial house on the right. This is the Cogswell House, built between 1804 and 1806 by Mr. Cogswell, a prominent attorney. The stone posts you see here today were once the supports for an elaborate picket fence. Legend says, this house was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. A basement with ground level windows would have allowed runaway slaves to view the kitchen entrance from the safety of their hiding place. As you are stopped here look across the street to the Federated Church, built in 1826. Originally, the Congregational Meeting House had been established in the 1600's near Old Fields Road, but when the center of town changed to this area, this new church was constructed. It was used for town meetings, as well as church services. Sarah Orne Jewett, one of our local authors, had her own pew here. In the late 1800's, the entire building was lifted up and the bottom floor was added to the church. 1. Continue down Portland street, stopping where Rte. 236 meets Portland Street. You'll be in front of a green colonial house, built in the 1700's by Nicholas Hanson. This gracious home was called the Homestead. In the mid 1800's, the quiet neighborhood changed dramatically when the Boston and Maine Railroad Line was constructed along what is now Rte. 236. South Berwick Station was built right next to this house, providing a depot for both passengers and freight. Trains rumbled past day and night. In the early 1900's, prominent residents would board the trains for the 7:30 or 7:40 morning trips to Boston. Mr. Vaughan, who lived at the Hamilton House in the summer, would arrive at the station in his chauffeur-driven automobile; while Mr. Libby, the inventor, would walk to the station, bound for his research facility at M.I.T. People who worked in Eliot got the train here, and teachers at Berwick Academy would arrive by train and walk up to the school. At mid-morning, the local dairy farmers would arrive with horse drawn carts, bringing fresh milk to the station. They would sit and visit, waiting for their dairy products to be loaded onto the train bound for the Boston Market. Each afternoon, a 2:30 train carried passengers to Boston and each evening several trains returned the commuters to South Berwick from the city. At nine each evening in the summer months, the train from Milton Three Ponds in New Hampshire would chug by, carrying ice packed in sawdust to the people of Boston. This noisy train, often over 100 cars long, was pulled by two locomotives and used the oldest, most rickety freight cars. Everyone in South Berwick knew the ice train by its squealing, squeaking, rattling sounds. Little Esther was born in this green house one morning in the early 1900's at 7:30. Her father was so excited about the arrival of his new daughter that he ran outside to tell the engineer on the 7:30 train! That morning, the train whistle blew several times, long and loud, to announce Esther's birth. As Esther grew up, she remembers seeing cars of the trains packed full of carefree skiers on their way to the mountains of Intervale, New Hampshire. She also recalls sitting in her dining room eating dinner and watching passengers gaze at her as they journeyed on the B&M railroad through South Berwick. The trains and the station are gone now . It is no longer the noisy, bustling place it once was, but if you could go into the back yard, you would still find the railroad marker saying, "Boston 61 miles". Look across to the used car lot. There used to be a large hotel on this site where railroad employees would stay. The white house behind the used car lot was also used by the railroad as an office building. The last train passed through the South Berwick station in October, 1942. Esther Holmes was all grown up by then and she wheeled her two year old son down to the station in his carriage to wave at the train and say farewell to the end of a very important era in South Berwick history. Look carefully at the plaque on the large tree in front of this house. In recent years, a girl named Abby Becker lived in this house with her family. Abby wrote beautiful poems, including several about this tree which she loved very much. Abby, like all of you, went to Central School. She was a mischievous, full-of-life child. When she was in kindergarten, she decided to make recess time more exciting by inviting two of her friends to walk to her house for Fig Newtons and milk. Abby and her pals left the playground and walked to this house without telling any teachers. Abby's parents weren't home, but the children went right in and had a little party and snack while the teachers at Central searched frantically for them. Abby only lived to be 17 years old. She was killed in a car accident on June 23, 1994. You can read her poems, which have been published in a book called, A Box of Rain.
Continue down Portland Street to Sewall Road. Look at the Baptist Church on the left as you walk. This church was built at the same time as the Federated Church, in 1826. Until 1850, it had tall white columns decorating the entrance, but the trains rumbling so close to the church caused them to become unstable and they were declared unsafe. Like the Federated Church, this church was also lifted up and a vestry was added beneath the original building. Turn right onto Sewall Road and notice the lot on the corner. There used to be a small store here called Bishop's Store. Look at the blue house on the right as you turn the corner. This house was built in 1828 by the McIntyre family. Look at the lovely wood carvings around the doorway. When this house was renovated, many Native American Artifacts were found in the excavation of the basement and the barn; including arrowheads, tools, and a large carved stone, which is on the porch for you to see. This stone was once used by Native Americans as they tied fish nets in the river thousands of years ago. 2. The empty lot next to the blue house is the site of South Berwick's District #4 School House. There were two teachers at this school site with students in grades one through three. Little Esther went to school here. She still remembers that it was an easy-going, friendly place, where younger students would be helped by their older classmates. She says the rules were not strict and the classes never had to line up quietly. She also remembers that the bathrooms were outhouses - one for the boys and one for the girls. Her mom told her to run next door to her house if she needed to use the restroom! Do you remember Mr. Nathan Milbury from last year's Hike Through History Assembly? He went to this school with Esther, and he says that leaving this school to go to brand new Central School was a sad occasion. In 1925, all of South Berwick's small schoolhouses closed their doors and for the first time, the children of South Berwick were educated together in one "central" school. Look across the street to #21 Sewall Road. This is the Baptist Parsonage built in 1898. Nathan Milbury lived in the Baptist parsonage. His father was the minister. The old parsonage was moved down the street so this one could be constructed. Walk down to the large green house next to the site of the schoolhouse. This house was built in 1825 by the Hayman family. The Sewall family was the second family to reside here. Miss Jane Sewall was a daughter who grew up in this house, became a school teacher and lived to become South Berwick's oldest resident at age 102. She gave a large donation to the town to help finance the construction of Central School. In her honor, this street which used to be called School Street, was renamed Sewall Road. Today, the Reddy family lives here. They were recently visited by a woman who told them that she had heard stories about a trap door that led to a tunnel running across the street and down to the river. This woman said that runaway slaves were hidden here and led away to freedom through the tunnel. As you continue to walk down Sewall Road, notice the white Cape Cod style house, two doors down from the Reddy house. Esther, the baby born at 7:30 in the morning in the green Becker house still lives in this house today. Note the small Cape Cod style homes to the right. This area, called Neally Fields, was laid out as a planned community in the 1880's, but no construction occurred until the early 1940's when Mr. Parent developed this area to provide housing for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard personnel who were increasing in number as the united States prepared for its entrance into World War II. Now go straight ahead and enter the large field on your left at the end of Sewall Road. Walk along the right hand edge of the field and notice that this land is now being developed. Soon eight new houses will be built in this area, as was the plan for Neally Fields way back in the 1880's. 3. At the edge of the forest, take a right at the posted sign and proceed along the old railroad bed. Look down at the Salmon Falls River that has been so important to our history. Look across at the waterfall and the mills that changed life for our community in the 1880's. Watch carefully for the spirits of the Native Americans who may tell you of their lives long ago on the banks of the Salmon Falls River. Climb up the hill to the paved street . When you see a white house with blue shutters in front of you and a brick and white house on your right, you are now on Young Street. Walk past the small houses here and think of Neally Field, planned in the 1880's and built in the 1940's. As you continue down Young Street, you can see many Victorian homes and you can look across at the back of Central School to view the additions to the original building. 4. Stop at St. Michael's Church, built under the direction of Rev. Michael Walsh in 1886. This church was a church built for immigrants - Irish and French mill workers who flocked to this area in the mid to late 1880's to work in the mills of Rollinsford, then called Salmon Falls, and South Berwick. Notice how the church does not face the center of town, as the Federated Church does, but rather looks toward the working class neighborhood in the valley by the river. St. Michael's provided Catholic services, Catholic education, and comfort to immigrants who wanted to worship and educate their children in the way and language of their "old country". A convent behind The Bible Speaks once housed the Sisters of St. Joseph, who educated Catholic students in St. Michael's School, which is now our Town Hall. Look across from the church to the white house with green shutters. This is the McIntyre House and once stood on the corner of Young and Main Streets. This house, built in the late 1700's was moved to its present site by a team of oxen. Can you imagine watching this house travel down Young Street? Turn left at the corner of Young and Main Streets. Proceed down Main Street looking at the Free will Baptist Church, which was founded in 1834 and constructed in 1836. The original church had only 13 members. 5. Continue down the hill, bearing left at the fork. Where the gas station now stands, The Roach Sisters' Millinery Shop once stood. Maggie and her sister ran a fashionable hat shop and worked to keep the women of South Berwick and Rollinsford up to the minute in the latest headwear fashions. Little Esther used to walk here to choose her own hats and recalls being scolded by her mother when the hats she chose were just too fancy!
The Roach Sisters' shop is under the awning on the right. As you proceed down the hill, cross at the cross walk to the right side of the street. This whole area before you was once a very crowded shopping and residential area for mill workers. This part of South Berwick was known as Hog Point, for it is said that hogs were kept here at one time, but also as Happy Valley for the bustling, cheerful, noisy businesses and residents who called this home. In the 1820's, mill girls first came to this area to work in the mills of South Berwick and Salmon Falls. They came from farms throughout New England, lived in boarding houses in the area and provided labor for textile mills. A mill girls' strike in Salmon Falls in 1849 gave Irish immigrants the opportunity to find employment here and they moved whole families to this area. In the 1870's, French Canadian immigrants from Quebec began to arrive to work in the mills. This was the world of the mill workers. In this area, near Reo's Barber Shop, once stood a large building called The Palace. It housed a movie theater, where admission was 10 cents, a skating rink, and a boxing arena to provide leisure activities for the workers. Mahoney's Billiard Room was on the opposite side of the street. Shops lined both sides of the street. There were three grocery stores in this valley; Provensal's, Dube's and Walter Flynn's Market at 373 Main Street. Esther remembers that each Saturday morning, a man would come to their house to take their order for groceries and later that day a delivery boy would arrive at Esther's house carrying the family's order. Esther also recalls how her mother would order a dozen jelly donuts as a special treat and how much Esther would anticipate enjoying that sweet snack as she waited for the delivery boy. Shoe shops, a family goods shop, a hardware store, and a bakery were all located in this little valley on the street then known as Salmon Falls Street. People still remember the aroma a freshly baked bread filling Happy Valley each morning. The bakers at Roberge Bakery rose early to provide warm bread for mill workers' breakfasts. 6. Boarding houses filled the neighborhood to house mill workers and tenements were crowded with workers and their families. Next to Reo's Barber Shop stood a large apartment building which residents referred to as "The Children's Factory", not because children worked there, but because it seemed as if children were manufactured there on an assembly line. There were so many of them playing in the streets, standing on the porches, and getting into mischief! Frankie Thierret had his barber shop here in Happy Valley. You could get your sleigh repaired at a shop here, or bring your shoes to Reo's relatives to have them re-soled. As you walk down the hill, imagine this place teeming with people shopping, hurrying along the streets, and children crowding the doorways. Imagine the sounds of of French, Gaelic, and heavily accented English mingling with the sounds of the factory, the trains and the trolleys! At the bottom of the hill, opposite Fogarty's, there was an ice cream parlor called Flaherty's which boasted wire-backed chairs, and the best ice cream for miles around. Esther says she's never tasted ice cream as delicious since she enjoyed cool treats there. The trolley line began at the bottom of the hill and the trolley tracks ran uptown, taking workers and their families on excursions to Eliot, Dover, Kittery, or Portsmouth. One of the workers' favorite places to visit was Quamphegan Park in South Berwick, down by the end of Waterside Lane. This park, built by the trolley company to encourage people to ride the trolleys, had picnic tables, concession stands, and a merry-go-round on the site of a small pond. Weekends might find a mill worker's family enjoying such an excursion or going a bit farther on the trolley line to Kittery. There they could ride a ferry boat across the harbor to Portsmouth. The following verse was composed by Conductor Frank S. Sewell in 1918 who worked on the line and should know whereof he spoke. THE SOUTH BERWICK TROLLEY
7. Imagine a wooden pedestrian bridge joining the communities of South Berwick and Salmon Falls. It was constructed for the mill workers to use as they traveled between the towns to live, work, and shop. Before you cross the bridge into Rollinsford, imagine the banks of the river lines with ice houses. this was where the ice was stored before going to further destinations. People's homes had iceboxes in their to keep their food cool. Every week, new ice would be delivered to homes by an "ice man". Cross the bridge into Rollinsford, looking at the waterfall here. This waterfall provided the power for the machinery of the mills. Bear to the left toward the large brick factory buildings.
Look at the railroad trestle on your right and realize that travelers from new York City would get their first glimpse of Maine from atop that bridge. Summer visitors, bound for the coast of Maine for vacation or to escape the heat in the City, would cheer and yell as they crossed the bridge into Maine. Bostonians traveling in the opposite direction on the Conway Branch of the railroad, would cross the same bridge on their way to "take the airs" and feel the cool breezes in the White Mountains.
8. You are now in Salmon Falls Village. The mills here began in 1823 and first produced wool. The first mill was built on the site of the lower mill with the bell tower and salmon weather vane. This wooden mill had several huge water wheels on the outside of the building. By 1827, this mill, owned by James Rundlett of Portsmouth, was producing one-fifteenth of all the woolen broadcloth manufactured in the United States. In 1834, fire destroyed this building. The fire began in the "picker room", a room where machinery cleaned the raw wool and prepared it for spinning. Attempts to start the water pumps failed and the entire mill burned. Mr. Rundlett rebuilt the mill in 1836, but switched to cotton production. the water Eight years later, the mill was sold to the Boston Associates, a group of wealthy Boston businessmen who owned mills in cities like Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts. These men believed that the mills should be attractive buildings with decent housing provided for the workers. These men believed that workers would want to come into the factories to labor if the exteriors were beautiful and modern. Grass plantings, brick walkways and a gazebo were features of the mill then. The architecture reflected Greek Revival and Federal styles. In 1848, the second mill was added. ( Today the DAMART Company operates from here.) Here they ran a very successful business making heavy cotton sheeting and drilling, a fabric like khaki. It was a " state of the art " mill with one of the first turbines in the country powering the machinery inside. On July 8, 1864, there was another huge fire which started in the picker room, and again, the workers tried to start the pumps and failed. Two mill girls died in the fire. One jumped from the top floor and one perished because she could not bring herself to jump from a window. This fire destroyed the mills. The block of storefronts on the right side of the street and the agent's large house on the hill. One Year later, with the Civil War winding down, the mill was rebuilt and the stores and and a house for the agent took shape once again. In the 1880's, the mills and office buildings were constructed so that underground tunnels linked the complex and a 67,000 gallon water tank was constructed atop a hill to provide sprinklers to the factory and water to a village hydrant system. As you walk past the mill buildings, look down to the mill with the weather vane and bell tower. Mill workers' lives were run by this bell in the tower, summoning them to work each morning, tolling for a mid-day break and signaling the end of the work day, Monday through Saturday. Look also at the building on your left. This red brick building was the Counting House, the office area for the mills. All financial aspects of the business were handled here. A large scale stood on the street here and horse drawn wagons would bring huge bales of cotton to be weighed at the Counting House. The cottons was grown in the southern part of the United States and was brought to the mills by train, stored in large warehouses by the railroad tracks, and brought to the mills by wagon.
An electric train ran through the village carrying goods and coal to the factory. Over the years, these streets were filled with different people, making a living and trying to find the simple pleasures in life. They lived the this area first in the wooden buildings which were boarding houses on your right, then later, in the brick houses you will see in a moment. Try to imagine these people shopping at the general store here, or getting medicine at Nutter's Pharmacy or chatting at the local grocery store. There was even an office for the editor of the South Berwick Independent Newspaper in this business block. A bank stood next to the business block and until the Town Hall was built in 1893, it housed the selectmen's meetings on the top floor.
9. Look straight ahead to the Mill Agents House atop the hill. This man was hired and paid well to run the mill and be responsible for everything from cotton production to mill worker housing. This house, rebuilt after the fire in 1865, was the reward the agent got for his diligent efforts to keep the village of Salmon Falls running smoothly. Because important stockholders and dignitaries often visited to check on mill production and business, the agent frequently entertained them here. The third floor of this house is a large, elegant ballroom with beautiful murals on the walls. The Mansard room and the dark interior woodwork give this traditional house a Victorian air. Walk farther up the hill and look at the four brick homes on the left and the two on the right. These were the homes of the mill foremen The duplex homes housed 12 families and boasted of a better location and more spacious quarters than the tenement buildings the workers lived in. The brick on each building is only a veneer,timber framed buildings are beneath a thin layer of brick. As you walk down South Street, imagine how it must have looked 130 years ago, when great elm trees towered overhead. Look down Second Street on your right and see the brick buildings that housed mill workers, eight families to a building. Some families would even sub-let rooms to earn a few extra dollars. That made these tenement houses even more crowded and noisy. Salmon Falls employed entire families during the era of the mill girls. Husbands, wives, and children were often employed together in the factory. They worked and lived close together every day. Farther up South Street, you can see large houses that were used as boarding houses for mill workers and duplex houses built by merchants. they would live in half of the house and rent out the other side to other merchants who couldn't afford their own homes. Look at the large white house on the corner of Third Street. This was a boarding house. Boarding houses were more expensive than the tenement houses provided by the mill, but much nicer. Although the mill did not own these buildings, they did control what type of construction was allowed and monitored the conditions of the privately owned property. Go right on Third Street. These private homes had protective covenants (rules concerning the care and upkeep of the property, much like modern-day zoning). These homes were owned and occupied by many town professionals and business owners. This shows us that the Mill owners had a lot of power in the communities in which they chose to build their factories. The Congregational Church on the corner of Main and Third Street was built in 1846 and received direct support form the Salmon Falls Manufacturing Company. The building was torn down in 1932. Cross Main Street and bear slightly to the left, taking Railroad Avenue to the train tracks. Look back at the Town Hall, which was the social center of the village and was used for meetings, plays and shows. Note that a clock tower never got the clock that was promised to be installed at a later date! 10. Walk carefully to the railroad tracks and realize that the Railroad Depot for Salmon Falls once stood here. Passengers could catch a train to Portland, Dover, or Boston with connections to further destinations. The station burned in 1949. Cross the train tracks cautiously and proceed up the hill to St. Mary's Catholic Church built in 1857 and thought to be the oldest, still active church in the state of New Hampshire. Irish immigrants built the church, but by 1870, immigrants from Quebec started to arrive and by 1890, the congregation was predominately French. Where the parking lot now stands, there was once a large house, called the Styles Block which once housed many Irish immigrants. 11. Go into the church for a display of Rollinsford history and enjoy the beautiful stained glass windows. Please enter quietly and treat this building with respect, then proceed to the parking lot for a mid-point break. Go left as you leave the mid-point rest stop. You will walk past several old buildings on your left. Use your imagination to know that the yellow house was once a beautiful private residence, the home of William H. Morton. He had been born in Salmon Falls, but moved away because of the fire in 1834. He later came back to operate a very successful insurance company. The green building, now the Sportsman's Club was once the Salmon Falls Hotel, built in 1878. It had a perfect location, close to the railroad station, a very convenient spot for travelers. It was an elegant establishment.
During the early 1900's, Maine was not allowed to sell liquor and New Hampshire did not have the same laws prohibiting its sale. This area was crowded with bars and liquor stores. Trains crowded with revelers would arrive from Maine communities to partake of the alcoholic beverages in the first New Hampshire town on the railroad's route!
As you walk down the hill toward the river, look out to the river and see if you notice any small islands. After prohibition began, people had stills on these islands and ran homemade whiskey along the river during the years in which its sale was considered illegal. The water power from the river is still used today, creating electricity at the hydroelectric plant here at the dam. The Salmon Falls Company owned both sides of the river to protect the water rights. Today the town of Rollinsford still owns the land which forms the banks of the river on the South Berwick side. Continue back across the bridge and up Main Street to return to Central School for the lunch break. As you walk, think about the fact that Fogarty's was once a part of the railroad yard, and that ice houses once stood by the banks of the river to store large chunks of ice used to help keep food cool in the days before refrigerators. As you walk up the hill, notice an old gray storage building on your right, set back from the road. This was Dube's Wholesale Grocers. As you pass a small brook on your left, opposite Reo's, imagine mills along the banks here. Bentley and Stiles manufactured soap. McIntyre Sash and Blind Company built shutters, window parts and even caskets. As you pass Webster Street, look in at the large yellow Dube House and realize that providing groceries for the large population in Happy Valley was a very profitable business. One of Mr Dube's daughters still lives on this street today. Are you feeling ready for some groceries yourself? Return to Central School for lunch!
Before you leave Central School, stand and think for a moment about how different this area looked in the 1800's. Instead of Central School, a gracious home, with an elaborate picket fence stood on this spot. Madame Cushing lived here and entertained General Lafayette after the Revolutionary War. Sarah Orne Jewett wrote:
"If you saw a dignified, straight little lady coming down a wide bordered walk to the street from a noble house that stood behind a close planted row of poplars that long ornamented the village street, you might be sure it was old Madame Cushing..." Look to where Dunkin Donuts is today. It was once the site of a Methodist Church. Sarah Orne Jewett once wrote that dear old Mrs. Cushing, who couldn't see very well, watched the church being built next door to her house. She thought a ship was being built there, and couldn't understand why it was being built so far from the water! Our Town Hall was St. Michael's Catholic School where the Sisters of St. Joseph taught grades 1 through 8 in both French and English. Proceed down Portland street. Where Fleet Bank now stands, there used to be another bank here where Abner Oakes worked. Remember his daughter Marcia Oakes Woodbury? She is the artist you learned about last year. The bank was robbed once, but the thieves were caught!
Look across the street at The Bible Speaks. This was once Paul's Hotel, a gracious hotel with a large porch where visitors would relax and enjoy an excellent dinner menu. It later became St. Joseph's Convent School, an all girl's school which operated until the late 1960's. It was an international school with boarding students from South America and Mexico.
Continue past the bank and look at Flynn's News. This used to be the Post Office. The business block as we now see it was constructed in the 1870's after a fire destroyed the wooden storefronts that had existed along here when Sarah Orne Jewett was a young woman. MacIntyre's Hardware Store was at the beginning of this block along with Davis Stoves and a Tinware Shop next to it. The Hershon and Union Store came next, followed by Merrill's Shoe Store, Hopper and Rocker Fancy Goods, a Millinery Store, and Charles Mallory's Boots and Shoes. The C.J. Tyler Jewelry Store was where Rideout's is today. Brookins Photographs and a Sewing Machine Store was where Flynn's Market now is. The Drug store was the business office of Charles E, Whitehead. Walk past Young Street, cross Main Street at the crosswalk, and go to Norton Street. Where the new bank parking lot is now, there was once a Universalist Church. The owners of the Cummings Shoe Factory helped to fund the construction for it. After the church was closed down, this building became the South Berwick Town Hall and housed the fire department on the lower level. A fire destroyed the building. Can you imagine a fire department burning down? The fire station was then moved to the white building that once stood where the bank is now. (This you should remember from all the visits many of you made here during Fire Prevention Weeks.) Look at #25 Norton Street, a small white house on your left. It was moved to this location from the grassy area between Fleet Bank and Central School. 1. Walk to the corner of Railroad Avenue and look at the Cummings Shoe Factory. This building was constructed in 1872 and added on to in 1880. It was a modern facility employing 350 people and making 5000 pairs of shoes each day! David Cummings of Chicago moved his business to South Berwick when the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed his factory there. His business came east and went to Worcester, Massachusetts before finally coming to our town. The factory used steam engines run by coal and waste chips to power the machinery. Kerosene lamps provided workers with light as they worked at producing shoes. When the Cummings Shoe Factory came to town, it was temporarily located in a wooden building near South Berwick Junction, the intersection of Emery's bridge Road and knight's Pond road. Then the new brick factory in town was completed and was called Cummingsville, or Shoe Town. The large duplex houses you see here on Norton Street were built for workers out at the Junction, and were then moved to Norton Street by train!
David Cummings son, William, became the company president when his father died. He also became the president of the Boston and Maine Railroad Company. He was an important man in South Berwick in the early 1900's. Workers would arrive at the factory at 7:00 in the morning and work until 6:00 in the evening on weekdays. they also worked Saturdays until noon. The neighborhood was clean and neat and the community prospered. if you worked at the shoe shop, you would get a $10.00 bonus, a box of chocolates and a calendar from Mr.. Cummings each Christmas. 2. Continue down Railroad Avenue until you see the beautiful large house on the left hand side of the road. This was the house William Cummings had built for his mother and himself. This lovely home on seven acres of land, had beautiful gardens, a fountain, a pergola (an open summer room) in the yard, and a garage, complete with a car wash!
Opposite the house, on Mrs. Paige's front lawn, you might be able to see some of the famous Berwick flock sheep that William Cummings raised. Continue past the Cummings House and turn around by the Town Garage. this was the location of the Cummings Station, which served as a depot for the B & M Railroad. The station is still in existence, but was moved to a location near Kennebunk, where it sits in a field as a reminder of a bygone era. Go down Railroad Avenue and take a left onto Ross Street. Notice the gabled barn with the slate roof on the left. This was built in the early 1900's 3. Look at the white house with the yellow shutters on the left, #21. The owner of this house, Mr. Lilly, told us a story about his house. When he worked many years ago at the shoe factory, he met an old man, Mr. Thurrell. When Mr. Thurrell was a boy, he used to walk 7 miles every day from Thurrell Road, down Emery's Bridge Road, to high school at Berwick Academy. Mr. Thurrell told Mr. Lilly that, every day for two weeks, he walked by that house being dragged by oxen from the Junction to its current location! The house would be moved a little during the day, night would come, everyone, including the oxen would go home, and come back the next day, to resume the work. The large white house on the right #27, was a farm house which once stood on the site of the new Ocean National Bank. When Mr. Cummings bought the farm property to construct his shoe factory, the house was moved by oxen to this site. As you round the corner on Ross Street, look to the left to the old railroad tracks which carried finished shoes on their way to stores all over the country. Also, these were the tracks that were used to inch the houses slowly along on their journey from Knight's Pond Road to this area. Look over at our new Municipal Center. This was the site of a carpentry shop, built in 1888, which was constructed to make wooden crates to ship the finished shoes from the Cummings Factory. 4. The large field adjacent to the shoe shop was used for recreation by the factory workers and also as a drill field for Civil War musters. Stop here to take in the farm animal display that will help you to understand the types of animals used in our area, and enjoy a mid-point rest stop.
5. After your rest stop, continue down Goodwin street to the South Berwick Veterinary Clinic. This was the site of the Goodwin Street School which provided education for students in grades 4 through 8. Stop and listen to what school was like in the 1800's As you walk toward Portland Street, notice the details on the two pretty Victorian houses on the right. Straight ahead, on the opposite side of Portland Street, you will see a beige house with blue trim and a mansard roof. A beautiful old Baptist Church used to stand here. Study the front steps carefully. Can you see the original church steps to the left? A small one-room schoolhouse used to stand to the left of the church, where the small green house is now. The small green house currently being repainted was another of South Berwick's small school houses for primary students. Look to the left at the corner of Goodwin and Portland Streets. You can see the Grant House, now housing for Senior Citizens. This home was once owned by relatives of Sarah Orne Jewett. You can look across to the Civil War Monument and think about the men who went off to fight in the South, leaving families behind here in South Berwick. Listen to one letter that a woman named Marcia wrote to her parents: "Every lady with scarcely an exception in the place is at work as for dear life for the 'poor soldiers,' making up hospital stores such as sheets, pillow cases, bandages, socks, flannel shirts, etc. They divide off according to religious sects and meet around at each others houses once a week. I should like that part of it. The ladies who are the most zealous are those who never pretend to do their own sewing, and some have learned to knit for the sake of knitting soldiers socks. When they came to me, I told them I had as much as I could do at present to provide for the comforts of my own family." Take a right onto Portland Street and imagine the huge tall elm trees that used to line both sides of the street. They were so large, they made a leafy canopy over the earthen street in the summer. Walk past the red house on your right and notice the stone posts used for fencing. An elaborate picket fence was a symbol of an affluent and well-cared for home in the 1800's. As you walk past the blue house, built in 1786, notice the stone steps and the brick walk. Look left to Highland Avenue at the large white house on the corner. This was once the home of Mr. Libby, the M.I.T. inventor who rode the train to Boston each day. The brick building behind the house was Mr. Libby's workshop. It is now Dr. Zois' office. Proceed to #99 Portland Avenue. Today, It is home to Dr. and Mrs. Owen Stevens, Jr. It is the second home to be built on this site. The well preserved barn was built to compliment the original house, which was moved to Rollinsford. This is a beautifully appointed Victorian home that was built for John F. Walker, a local banker, in 1886. Some of the special features of this home include a circular porch on the left rear corner of the house, double plastered walls, brass hardware, elaborately carved woodwork and many closets which serve as buffer zones between thee rooms. There is original stained glass in the front hallway. The dining room displays a mural painted in 1958 by George McLean. The mural depicts three architectural landscapes taken from the book, Architectural Heritage of the Piscataqua, and represent the Jewett House, the Hamilton House, and the Pitt House in Portsmouth. Dr. Stevens practiced veterinary medicine in the barn for many years. He then moved his practice to the newly constructed veterinary clinic on Goodwin Street. Currently, there are two antique cars stored here: One is a 1921 Studabaker, seven passenger touring car that was once owned by Mr. Libby, the inventor. The second is a 1931 Pierce Arrow. Occasionally, you may see Dr. Stevens driving about town in one of his well preserved cars. Today, Dr. Stevens is retired, but remains very busy and involved in local, state, and national issues. Mrs. Stevens is also a very active individual as she serves on numerous voluntary committees. She is the lady who maintains the many flower buckets that brighten and beautify South Berwick each summer. By the Rte. 236 sign, look to the right in the back to see a small garage that was once the village blacksmith shop. People came here to have their horses shod, or to have iron tools repaired. This could be compared to a service station today. Notice also the beautiful old maple tree on the right. Next, look across at the beige building next to the Mobil Station. This was the fire station for South Berwick in the 1870's. The fire horses were stabled here and used to pull the fire pumps to the fires. 6. The library on the right, was built for Dr. Jewett, Sarah Orne Jewett's father, in 1850. He had his doctor's practice on the left hand side of the house,in the little office you enter when you go into the library. His family resided on the right side of the building. Sarah Orne Jewett will greet you here to tell you about how she felt about moving from her grandfather's house next door when she was nine years old. 7. Enter the yard between the library and the Jewett House and walk behind the Jewett house to the side facing Main Street. Mary Jewett, Sarah's sister will share some details of downtown with you, and you'll hear about the night that a huge fire destroyed the business block on the opposite side of the street. As you look across at the brick buildings, notice that the third floor is decorated with a slate roof in a pattern called "beaver tail slate". The color is called Vermont Purple. Look across Portland Street to where the Video Stop now is. This building is the oldest brick building in town and Sarah Orne Jewett's family ran the West Indies Store from this location. Items were sold here from the cargoes of Captain Jewett's ships, which traveled around the world. The Jewett house was built between 1774 and 1776 by a merchant named John Haggin. Twelve little Haggin children were born in this house! Captain Jewett, Sarah's grandfather, bought the house in the early 1800's. The house is filled with lovely belongings from all over the world and can be toured during the summer months. Sarah Orne Jewett loved this house and returned to it to write and recall memories of the quiet country town that South Berwick was before the mills made it into a noisy industrial center. After you have enjoyed hearing about the downtown area from the interpreters, exit by the Jewett House driveway and cross at the crosswalk for the return walk to Central School. As you walk, think about all the changes that have occurred in the last 150 years. Would you like to be able to visit South Berwick as it was then?
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