Derek Strahan

Aside from running the Lost New England blog, Derek Strahan is the author of two books: Lost Springfield, Massachusetts and New England Then and Now, along with being the host of the Western Mass History podcast. Derek is a graduate of Westfield State University, with degrees in English and Regional Planning, and he currently works as a land use and environment planner in Western Massachusetts. Derek also serves on the board of directors of the Springfield Preservation Trust, and he lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife Melissa and their two sons.

John Adams Birthplace, Quincy, Massachusetts (3)

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The birthplace of President John Adams at 133 Franklin Street in Quincy, on October 15, 1929. Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library; photographed by Leon Abdalian.

The scene in 2019:

As with the photo in the previous post, the first one here was taken in October 1929 by Leon Abdalian, an amateur photographer whose works included a number of images of historic landmarks around the Boston area. He immigrated to the United States from Armenia as a child in 1896, and for many years he worked as a conductor for the Boston Elevated Railway, while also becoming an accomplished photographer. Assuming the date is correct, he took this photograph five days after the one in the previous post, and it features a similar angle of the John Adams birthplace, except this one is shown directly facing the front of the house, and without any costumed interpreters standing out front. Incidentally, this photo was taken exactly two weeks before “Black Tuesday,” the date of the stock market crash that would lead to the Great Depression.

By the time the first photo was taken, the house was already more than 200 years old. It was built in 1722, and John Adams was born here in 1735. It remained in his family until 1940, when it was sold to the city of Quincy, along with the neighboring John Quincy Adams birthplace. Both houses are now owned by the National Park Service, and they comprise part of the Adams National Historical Park, which also includes the Peacefield mansion elsewhere in Quincy. Not much has changed here with this house except for the exterior color. It was painted in the first photo, but now has unpainted clapboards, which likely better reflects the historic appearance of the house.

John Adams Birthplace, Quincy, Massachusetts (2)

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The birthplace of President John Adams at 133 Franklin Street in Quincy, on October 10, 1929. Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library; photographed by Leon Abdalian.

The scene in 2019:

As explained in more detail in an earlier post, this house was the birthplace of John Adams, the second president of the United States. The house itself was built in 1722 as the home of the president’s father, Deacon John Adams. In 1734, he married Susanna Boylston, and a year later their son John Adams was born in the east bedroom on the second floor, in the corner of the house closest to the foreground. They would have two more children, Peter and Elihu, who were born over the course of the next few years.

Peter inherited this house after their father’s death in 1761, but the younger John Adams would apparently live here until 1764, when he married Abigail Smith and moved into the house next door, where their son and future president John Quincy Adams would be born in 1767. John later purchased his birthplace from his brother in 1774 and used it as a rental property, and then in 1803 sold both houses to John Quincy Adams. The Adams family would maintain ownership of both houses into the early 20th century, although they were rented to other tenants for most of this time.

By the time the first photo was taken, the birthplace was still owned by the Adams family, but was being operated as a museum by the Adams Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The photo was taken by Leon Abdalian, a photographer who extensively documented historic buildings in and around the Boston area during the early 20th century. His caption does not provide any additional information beyond the location and date, but it seems likely that the three costumed women in the foreground were likely DAR members who worked as guides at the house museum.

Both this house and the adjacent John Quincy Adams birthplace were eventually sold to the city of Quincy in 1940. Then, in 1978 they were transferred to the National Park Service, and they became part of the Adams National Historical Park, which also includes the Peacefield mansion where John Adams lived later in his life. Throughout this time, the birthplace has been well maintained, and today the only significant difference is the lack of paint on the exterior of the house, which was likely done in order to be more historically accurate. Together, these two houses are the only surviving birthplaces of the first eight presidents, and they are also the geographically closest of any two presidential birthplaces, as they stand just 75 feet from each other.

North Main Street from Pleasant Street, Concord, New Hampshire

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Looking north on North Main Street from the corner of Pleasant Street in Concord, New Hampshire, around 1874-1885. Image courtesy of the New York Public Library.

The scene in 2022:

As these two photos show, much of downtown Concord has retained its historic architecture, with a number of buildings here that date back to the mid-19th century. Some have been altered over the years, but overall most of the buildings from the first photo are still standing here around 150 years later.

Starting in the foreground on the right side of the street is Moore’s Block at 4-12 North Main Street. This was built sometime around 1860, although over the years it has been altered almost beyond recognition. The main façade has been almost completely rebuilt, and today the only clue to its original appearance in this scene is the central window on the second floor, which is still topped by its granite lintel.

Beyond this building is the three-story Currier Block, which was also probably built in the 1860s, and the four-story Statesman Building, which was built around 1866-1867. The latter was originally the offices of the New Hampshire Statesman newspaper. Both buildings are still standing, and are still easily recognizable from their 19th century appearance.

On the far side of the Statesman Building is the corner of Depot Street, and then on the on the other side of the street was Bailey’s Block, which was built in 1874. Later known as Smith’s Block, it stood here until it was destroyed by a fire in 1960, and it was replaced by a one-story commercial building that now stands on the site.

Further in the distance in the first photo, with the tall windows on the upper floors, was Phenix Hall. This was an important city landmark in the second half of the 19th century, and its large auditorium served as a venue for many political gatherings, speeches, and other events. Perhaps the most notable visitor here was Abraham Lincoln, who delivered a speech here on March 1, 1860, several days after his famous Cooper Union speech in New York City. At the time, Lincoln was still a relatively obscure midwestern politician, but his speaking tour through the northeast helped to establish him as a major contender for the 1860 election.

The original Phenix Hall was destroyed by a fire in 1893, but true to its name it was soon rebuilt as the New Phenix Hall. Like its predecessor, it continued to be used as an event venue for many years, with prominent guests such as Theodore Roosevelt, who spoke here during his 1912 presidential campaign. The building was damaged by yet another fire in 1956, and was underutilized for many years during the second half of the 20th century. However, it is still standing, and is the subject of an ongoing restoration project.

On the other side of Phenix Hall, in the distant center of the first photo, is the three-story Phenix Hotel, which was built in 1857. It is difficult to tell now, but there are portions of this building that are still standing. As shown in the first photo, it originally had three stories and a flat roof, but it was later altered with the addition of a fourth story that was topped by a Mansard roof. This roof was eventually removed in 1947, and then seven years later all of the upper floors were removed, leaving only the one-story structure that stands today.

Further in the distance, the buildings become less discernable from this vantage point. However, there are a number of 19th century buildings that still stand today, including perhaps most notably the Eagle Hotel, which had been a favorite for New Hampshire politicians for many years.

Overall, the street itself could hardly be any different, with the horse-drawn carts on a rutted dirt road giving way to the cars that now pass through here on US Routes 3 and 202. However, most of the buildings from the first photo are still standing in some form or another, and the scene is still easily recognizable from the first photo. Because of this level of preservation, this section of North Main Street is now part of the Downtown Concord Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Derby House, Salem, Massachusetts

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The Derby House on Derby Street in Salem, probably sometime around the 1890-1910. Image courtesy of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, Frank Cousins Glass Plate Negatives Collection.

The house in 2019:

As explained in more detail in an earlier post, this house was built in 1762 by merchant Richard Derby as a home for his son Elias Hasket Derby and his newlywed wife Elizabeth Crowninshield. It has a brick, Georgian-style exterior with a gambrel roof, and it is believed to have been designed and built at least in part by Joseph McIntire, who was paid 40 shillings for work on the house.

The house was located directly across the street from Derby Wharf, where Elias could keep a close eye on the family merchant business. During the American Revolution he invested in a number of privateers that preyed on British shipping, and in peacetime he became one of the first American merchants to trade with China and southeast Asia. His career coincided with Salem’s peak of prosperity as an international port, and he was among the wealthiest merchants in New England at the time, which would later earn him the moniker “King Derby” in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter.

Elias and Elizabeth Derby would live here in this house until the early years of the Revolution, but they apparently moved elsewhere by 1778. In 1782 they moved into a house at the corner of Washington and Lynde Streets, and then to another house in 1799 on the present-day site of the Old Town Hall. In the meantime, this house here on Derby Street was owned by a series of other merchants and sea captains, including Henry Prince and Henry Ropes.

Salem’s status as a major seaport steadily declined in the 19th century, especially after the Embargo Act of 1807 and the subsequent War of 1812. This was reflected in the changing ownership of the Derby House. By the 1870s it was owned by Daniel Leahy, an Irish immigrant who worked as a stevedore. The Leahy family would live here until around the turn of the 20th century, and they subsequently rented it to several different immigrant families. The first photo was taken at some point during this time period, probably around the 1890s or early 1900s.

By the early 20th century the house was recognized for its historical and architectural significance, and it was eventually purchased by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities in 1927 and restored to its original appearance. Then in 1937 it was transferred to the National Park Service, and a year later it became a part of the newly-established Salem Maritime National Historic Site. The house is still a part of the National Historic Site more than 80 years later, and it stands as one of the many well-preserved historic homes from Salem’s heyday as a prosperous seaport.

Custom House, Salem, Massachusetts (2)

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The Custom House in Salem, probably sometime around the 1890s. Image courtesy of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, Frank Cousins Glass Plate Negatives Collection.

The scene in 2019:

As explained in more detail in an earlier post, the Custom House is an important landmark in Salem, dating back to its heyday as a major seaport. It was built in 1819, and it was located directly across from Derby Wharf, the largest of Salem’s wharves. It was here that customs officials collected import duties on cargoes, which provided the vast majority of revenue for the federal government in the years before direct taxes such as income tax.

Although the Custom House played an important role in the maritime history of Salem, it is probably best remembered for its association with Nathaniel Hawthorne, who worked here from 1846 to 1849 as Surveyor of the Port of Salem. He obtained this appointment through his connections within the Democratic Party, and it provided him with some financial security at a time when he was still trying to establish himself as a writer. However, he did not particularly enjoy the work, and he ultimately lost the job after the Whig Party won the presidency in 1848 and dismissed Democratic officeholders such as Hawthorne.

Embittered by this experience, Hawthorne wrote a lengthy diatribe against Salem in general and the Custom House in particular, and he included it as the preface to his 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter. Although most of the novel is set in 17th century Boston, the Salem Custom House is the place where the fictional 19th century narrator of the story discovers the physical scarlet letter.

By Hawthorne’s time, Salem’s shipping industry was in decline. It had never fully recovered from early 19th century embargoes and the War of 1812, and by the middle of the century most of the international trade in the region had shifted to Boston. The Custom House would remain in use throughout this time, although the number of officials stationed here steadily dwindled.

In the long run, one of the positive side effects of Salem’s stagnant economy was that the early 19th century waterfront development remained largely intact. By the time the first photo was taken around the 1890s, this scene had not changed much since before Hawthorne’s time. The Custom House was still here, and beyond it was the Home for Aged Women, which had been built around 1810 as the home of Benjamin Crowninshield. Further in the distance was the Simon Forrester House, which had been built around 1790 at the corner of Derby and Hodges Streets.

Today, more than 120 years after the first photo was taken, this scene has still remained largely unchanged. All three of the buildings are still standing, although the Forrester House is hidden from view from this angle. The Custom House remained in use for its original purpose until 1913, when all of the customs districts in Massachusetts were consolidated into a single district based out of Boston. However, it was still used as offices for the Customs Service until 1936, and it was subsequently transferred to the National Park Service. Two years later, it became the centerpiece of the newly-created Salem Maritime National Historic Site. This was the first National Historic Site in the country, and it is comprised of a number of historic buildings here along the waterfront, including the Custom House.

Eagle Hotel, Concord, New Hampshire (2)

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The Eagle Hotel on North Main Street in Concord, around the 1860s-1880s. Image courtesy of the New York Public Library.

The scene in 2022:

As explained in more detail in the previous post, the Eagle Hotel was the leading hotel in Concord during the 19th century. It opened in 1852 on the site of the earlier Eagle Coffee House, which had burned in 1851, and it remained in business for over a hundred years. Because of its location across the street from the State House, it played an important role in state politics. Many legislators stayed here when the General Court was in session, and politicians would often gather here for meetings.

Several presidents visited the hotel, including Concord resident Franklin Pierce, who lived in the hotel for several months between his election to the presidency and his inauguration in Washington. Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and Benjamin Harrison also stopped at the hotel during visits to Concord, as did Richard Nixon on two occasions in 1954 and 1959, when he was serving as vice president.

The first photo was probably taken in either the 1860s or 1870s, and it shows the original exterior appearance of the hotel. However, the building underwent major changes in 1890. It included interior renovations, such as the installation of an elevator and a central heating plant, and it also included exterior work. The original gable roof was removed, and it was replaced by a fifth story with a flat roof. The porches on the front of the building were also removed at some point during the 19th century, although this apparently happened before the roof, because there are other photos that show the building with no porches but with the original roof.

The hotel ultimately closed in 1961, but it is still standing as one of a number of historic 19th century commercial buildings here on North Main Street. Other surviving buildings in this scene include Stickney’s Old Block at 120-132 North Main Street. This was built in 1851, replacing an earlier building that had been destroyed in the same fire as the Eagle Coffee House. A portion of the building closest to the Eagle Hotel was demolished in 1885 to build the existing New Hampshire Savings Bank building, but aside from this the remaining sections of the older building are still standing. On the other side of the Eagle Hotel is the Merchants Exchange Block, which was also built after the 1851 fire. As was the case with Stickney’s Old Block, a portion of it was later demolished, but the part visible in this scene is still here. All of these buildings, including the Eagle Hotel, are now part of the Downtown Concord Historic District, which was added to the National Register in 2000.