Salisbury Reconnaissance Report

SALISBURY RECONNAISSANCE REPORT ESSEX COUNTY LANDSCAPE INVENTORY MASSACHUSETTS HERITAGE LANDSCAPE INVENTORY PROGRAM Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Essex National Heritage Commission PROJECT TEAM Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Jessica Rowcroft, Preservation Planner Division of Planning and Engineering Essex National Heritage Commission Bill Steelman, Director of Heritage Preservation Project Consultants Shary Page Berg Gretchen G. Schuler Virginia Adams, PAL Local Project Coordinator Lisa Pearson Local Heritage Landscape Participants Jerry Klima Maria Miles Katrina O’Leary Tim Olkahe Lisa Pearson Carolyn Sargent Rachel Toomey May 2005 INTRODUCTION Essex County is known for its unusually rich and varied landscapes, which are represented in each of its 34 municipalities. Heritage landscapes are places that are created by human interaction with the natural environment. They are dynamic and evolving; they reflect the history of the community and provide a sense of place; they show the natural ecology that influenced land use patterns; and they often have scenic qualities. This wealth of landscapes is central to each community’s character; yet heritage landscapes are vulnerable and ever changing. For this reason it is important to take the first steps towards their preservation by identifying those landscapes that are particularly valued by the community – a favorite local farm, a distinctive neighborhood or mill village, a unique natural feature, an inland river corridor or the rocky coast. To this end, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Essex National Heritage Commission (ENHC) have collaborated to bring the Heritage Landscape Inventory program (HLI) to communities in Essex County. The primary goal of the program is to help communities identify a wide range of landscape resources, particularly those that are significant and unprotected. The focus is on landscapes that have not been identified in previous survey efforts in a given community. Another important goal of the program is to provide communities with strategies for preserving heritage landscapes. The methodology for the Heritage Landscape Inventory program was developed in a Pilot Project conducted in southeast Massachusetts. It is outlined in the DCR publication Reading the Land which has provided guidance for the program in Essex County. In short, each participating community appoints a Local Project Coordinator (LPC) to assist the DCR-ENHC consulting team. The LPC organizes a heritage landscape identification meeting at which interested residents and town officials offer community input by identifying potential heritage landscapes. This meeting is followed by a fieldwork session including the consulting team and the LPC, usually accompanied by other community members. This group visits the priority landscapes identified in the meeting and gathers information about the community. The final product is the Reconnaissance Report, prepared for each participating community. It outlines the history of the community; identifies the resources and documentation that provide background information; provides a short description of the priority heritage landscapes visited; discusses planning issues identified by the community; and concludes with a brief discussion of survey and planning recommendations. A list of all of the heritage landscapes identified by the community is included in the Appendix. SALISBURY HISTORY Salisbury’s distinctive inland and coastal landscape features were instrumental in shaping the history of the community from the earliest Native American use of the land to the 19th century farming and later resort activities along the miles of beach front. Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory Program 1 Salisbury Reconnaissance Report Salisbury is home to confirmed Native American sites over the last 3,000 years and it is presumed that there are Contact period sites from the 1500s or early 1600s along the Merrimack River, an inland transportation route. Native Americans that lived in this region were part of the Pawtucket group, locally called Penacook or Pentuckets. The first European settlement occurred in 1638, when the area was called Colchester. In 1640 the name was changed to Salisbury and included a large area of northern Essex County as well as territory in southern New Hampshire. There have been several boundary changes with the last in 1886 when Salisbury Falls and Rocky Hill were annexed to Amesbury to the west. The first meetinghouse was built ca. 1638 at Salisbury Green and a second was constructed in 1665. Agriculture, particularly the production of hay and corn and animal husbandry, were the mainstay of the economy into the early 19th century along with the ancillary grist mills and slaughter houses, of which eight were reported in 1791. Early industries included lumbering (saw mills), ship building and fishing which remained viable until after the War of 1812 when small ports such as Salisbury gave way to larger shipping areas along the New England seacoast. Maritime industries were replaced by textile manufacturing which harnessed the waterpower of the Powwow and Merrimack Rivers. Salisbury Manufacturing Company’s first woolen mill opened in 1812 and had three mills by the 1830s. Most of the textile industry was at Salisbury Falls which eventually was annexed to Amesbury. Small boat building, carriage making and shoe and hat manufacturing contributed to the economy into the late 19th century with carriage and hat manufacturing emerging as significant industries at the turn of the 20th century. In the late 19th century Salisbury Beach became a resort town with hotels, summer cottages and an early amusement park. Some of the early “thrill” rides, such as the Dodgem Car, debuted at Salisbury Beach. Recreational activities continue today along the miles of barrier beach. The shoe industry also was sustained in Salisbury into the mid 1900s with Kristine Shoe Company and Sandlee-Goodman Shoe Company. Early transportation routes followed Native American trails along the north-south Elm Street and the east-west Ferry Road and Seabrook Road. Water travel played a significant role into the 19th century. Ferry boats crossed the Merrimack from Newburyport to Carr Island and Salisbury until the end of the 18th century when the Essex Merrimac Bridge (to Amesbury) and the Newburyport Bridge (Bridge Road) were built over the Merrimack. Bridge Road (Rt. 1), a major north-south route was laid out in 1804 connecting Boston with New Hampshire. The Eastern Railroad line arrived in Newburyport in 1840 and was extended to western Salisbury soon thereafter. In 1847-48 a spur led from this line to East Salisbury parallel to Elm Street. And by 1890 Salisbury’s villages were linked by street railway lines including one that ran the length of Salisbury Beach. Bridges carrying Rt. 1, Rt. 1A and the railroad over the Merrimack River were improved in the early 1900s. In the 1950s Rt. 95 was one more transportation improvement providing faster access to and from Salisbury. Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory Program 2 Salisbury Reconnaissance Report Salisbury’s population in the 1700s rose from about 380 in 1710 to 1,667 at the time of the American Revolution. The population figures fluctuated, rising dramatically to nearly 5,000 in the late 19th century; however these figures are misleading due to several boundary changes resulting in a reduced area of Salisbury by 1886, the main reason for a dramatic population decline from 4,840 residents in 1885 to 1,316. Immigrant groups in the late 19th century were predominately Irish, English, Canadians and Scots. By 1915 there were 1,717 persons and the largest immigrant groups represented were Italians and Canadians. By the mid 20th century population climbed to over 3,000 and more than doubled by the late 1980s to 6,645. Population figures continue to increase substantially to 7,827 reported in 2004. Much of this increase is due to improved access with opportunity to work in Boston or other parts of Essex County and to the conversion of many summer cottages to year-round residences. RESOURCES AND DOCUMENTATION This section of the Reconnaissance Report identifies planning documents and tools that provide information relevant to the Heritage Landscape Inventory program. Inventory of Historic Assets The Massachusetts Historical Commission’s (MHC) Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets is a statewide list that identifies significant historic resources throughout the Commonwealth. In order to be included in the inventory, a property must be documented on an MHC inventory form, which is then entered into the MHC database. This searchable database, known as MACRIS, is now available online at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc. According to the MHC, Salisbury’s inventory documents 155 resources dating from 1662 to 1953. Many of the resources are described in area forms that link their histories and context providing a unified history of the town’s development. Documentation was completed in 2001 by professional preservation consultants. State and National Registers of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places is the official federal list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects that have been determined significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering and culture. Salisbury has one property listed in the National Register (NR); Ann’s Diner is listed as part of the Diners of Massachusetts

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