Tour of Quamphegan Landing
I have always wished to know something more of the history of the quaint little packet storehouse which, until within a year or two, stood in the mill-yard, just below the falls. It was built of heavy timbers, as if it might some day be called upon to resist a battering-ram. The stories were very low, and the upper one projected over the water with a beam, to which was fastened a tackle and fall to hoist and lower the goods...Nobody knew how old it was; it was like a little old woman who belonged to a good family, now dead, save herself; and who could remember a great many valuable people and events which everybody else had forgotten. It was the last of the warehouses that used to stand on the river-banks, and I was sorry when it was pulled down. The old wharves have almost disappeared, too, though their timbers can still be seen here and there.
River Driftwood, Sarah Orne Jewett, 1881
By far the oldest part of South Berwick Village is Quamphegan Landing , often called the Upper Landing (to distinguish it from the deep-water anchorage near the Hamilton House , the Lower Landing or Pipe Stave Landing )or just The Landing.
On what we now call the Salmon Falls River, Indians camped, far
med and fished at Quamphegan Falls for countless generations. In 1650, native leader Sagamore Rowls sold the area to Thomas Spencer for five pounds, and Quamphegan then passed on to other owners eager to build mills and land cargoes.
Below the falls, tidal salt water leads to the sea 10 miles away. In the 1700s and early 1800s, before the advent of railroads, the tidewater port connected South Berwick to the Piscataqua, Portsmouth and the world. Before the construction of bridges at Portsmouth, the bridge at Quamphegan was also the overland gateway to Maine. Middle Street was a mast road for ox teams to round the corner to the river. Several sea captains and merchants lived in the neighborhood as well as mill operators on the falls.
Much of today's neighborhood at the Landing dates from the construction of the Portsmouth Manufacturing Company cotton mill about 1830. On Main Street, many historic double houses and boarding houses built for workers still contain homes and apartments today.
Many Landing landmarks of today appear on this South Berwick map of 1877 by Ruger & Stoner.
Click here to enlarge the map for easier reading
1a c. 1830 The Counting House -- Main and Liberty Streets
The last remaining building of the Portsmouth Manufacturing Company textile mill, the Counting House once provided office space for the company's agent and paymaster and their staffs. Samuel Hale was mill agent until 1869, when he was succeeded by his son Frances. Grandson Samuel Hale ran the corporation through the 1880s until the mill's closure in 1893. The Counting House has been owned and maintained by the Old Berwick Historical Society since 1964. It is open to the public on weekends throughout the summer and fall, as well as by appointment . The first floor, that once provided office space for the Company's Agent and Paymaster, now contains exhibits as well as about 10,000 historic records and photos of South Berwick and the surrounding area. Upstairs, the building still contains one of northern New England's last textile mill ballrooms. Years ago the mill entertained dancers each autumn when gas lamps were illuminated for a "Lighting Up Ball." The Counting House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Read a Jewett story, The Gray Mills of Farley
1b 1917 Salmon Falls Hydro Station Liberty Street
Built in the 1917 by the South Berwick Electric Company just above Quamphegan Landing, the building powered the first electricity in town. It is located on the Quamphegan Falls site that has been a source of power since the early 1600s. It still generates electricity today.
1c -- Counting House Park Quamphegan Landing
Part of South Berwick Historic District, the Town of South Berwick's new Counting House Park is on the site of the historic Quamphegan Landing, one of the community's oldest places of settlement dating to the 1600s, when it was the community's transportation link for supplies from Portsmouth and the world beyond. For generations this was the spot where tall pine logs were loaded into the river to be taken downstream to shipyards to become masts. The 1830 Portsmouth Manufacturing Company cotton mill stood here until about 1917. Before the arrival of European settlers Quamphegan was a fishing place of Native Americans, and it still attracts fishermen today, as well as kayakers and canoeists at the new town boat ramp, and residents enjoying the natural setting of the Salmon Falls River. It is a regular destination of Central School students during their annual Hike Through History, and the gundalow replica Capt. Adams visited in 2005. The park is named for the adjacent Counting House Museum.
The Landing Mill and its Time
This house may appear on late 19 th century photographs and maps.
Middle Street , formerly known as Tremont Street , was once a mast road where ox teams carried huge white pine logs to the river.
This house may appear on late 19 th century photographs and maps.
30 Middle Street is probably second from the left in this photo, behind the post.
3a c. 1850 Nealley - Maddox Store Main Street
On a South Berwick map of c. 1865 map this was Nealley's Store, and is believed to have been operated by Andrew J. Nealley (1815-1887) a member of the entrepreneurial Nealley family who arrived in South Berwick from central New Hampshire at the time of the rise of the Portsmouth Company cotton mill. In the 20 th century the store was operated by the Maddox family, who owned other South Berwick grocery stores.
A Methodist Episcopal Church on this spot was the target of arson by anti-temperance forces in 1849. It was rebuilt and then moved in 1888.
South Berwick's Temperance Controversy and Crime Wave, 1845-55
3c c. 1830 Quamphegan Hotel/Nealley Tavern - 48 Main Street
Throughout much of the 19 th century this house, located on the Portland to Boston turnpike, was known as the Quamphegan Hotel. Eben Nealley (1807-1888) was remembered as tavern-keeper in a memoir about the early years of the Portsmouth Manufacturing Company cotton mill. He may have built the inn as part of the network of properties owned and developed by his entrepreneurial family who came from central New Hampshire early in the century. A large sign featuring Nealley's horse, Black Hawk, adorned the tavern. A 19 th century photo shows a front porch. Nealley was mentioned in accounts of the arson incident at the Methodist Church across Park Street, and was still listed as owner of the property on the maps of c. 1865 and 1872. During a flood that threatened the dam at the Landing bridge, he served suppers to volunteers hauling sandbags.
3d c. 1800 John Henry Plumer House - 62 Main Street
c. 1830 Deacon John Plumer Bakery - 54 Main Street
On maps of c. 1865 and 1872, the house at 62 Main appears to be owned by John Henry Plumer (b. 1829), who married Nancy Butler in 1850 and may have had a livery stable across Main Street in 1872. John Henry likely was related to Deacon John Plumer (1800-1873), whose bakery and home were in the house next door at 54 Main during the early years of the Portsmouth Manufacturing Company cotton mill. Deacon Plumer's father may have been a John Plumer born in 1765, and is remembered in history for almost innumerable pots of beans and loaves of brown bread ... taken out of the side door in the basement of his house, next north of the [Nealley] tavern, Sunday mornings. Good bread, jumbles, turnovers and doughnuts grew under his hand. Plumer was deacon of the First Parish (Congregational, now Federated) Church. Reverend John Lord, the historian, said of Deacon Plumer: He was a pillar of the church frugal, but generous in large matters; a liberal contributor to [Berwick] Academy, and to all public charities, a man of foresight, who would have made a capital abbot of a medieval monastery for his piety -- his asceticism, his abilities, and love of power.
3e Mid-1800s Double House - 68-70 Main Street
On the map of c. 1865, this house appears to be owned by a G. Goodwin, and is one of several double houses associated with the mill and likely built around the time of its construction.
3f c. 1850 Chief John T. Driscoll House - 69 Main Street
On the c. 1865 and 1872 maps it may have been occupied by a Mrs. Chadbourne. Descendants of John Thomas Driscoll (d. 1941) say this was the home of the Driscoll family. Driscoll was the South Berwick chief of police and in the 1910s and 1920s owned a drug store and lunch counter in the John Frost Store at Main and Paul Streets. Driscoll's aunt, Hannah Driscoll, may have been a housekeeper in family of Sarah Orne Jewett and mentioned in Jewett's 1909 will.
3g Mid 1800s Benjamin M. Nealley Double House - 72-74 Main Street
On the map of c. 1865, this house appears to be owned by Benjamin N. Nealley, overseer of the 1830 Portsmouth Manufacturing Company cotton mill card room, and is one of several double houses associated with the mill and likely built around the time of its construction. A member of the central New Hampshire Nealley family of merchants and mill technicians who arrived in South Berwick in the early 1800s, Benjamin M. Nealley married Abigail Pray in 1836.
3h c. 1850 Double House - 88-90 Main Street
On the c. 1865 and 1872 maps it seems to have belonged to a B. Nason. Perhaps it was a duplex rental property for textile mill or tin shop workers. It is not known whether it could have been and owned by merchant Benjamin Nason (1788-1875), who lived on Portland Street and ran a store in the Odd Fellows Block.
3i mid-1800s Nealley Boarding House - 89 Main Street
On the c. 1865 and 1872 maps it seems to be owned by members of the Nealley family, entrepreneurs from central New Hampshire who came to South Berwick soon after the construction of the cotton mill. On the map of c. 1865 it seems to be owned by Benjamin and George K. Nealley, and in 1872 by George and brother John B. Nealley, South Berwick's state senator who lived at 169 Main Street.
3j c. 1850 Double House - 96 Main Street
This could have been a duplex rental property for the textile mills or tin shop. It may be the building marked Ferguson and Nason on the map of c. 1865; a B. Nason possibly merchant Benjamin Nason (1788-1875) -- and the family of merchant Timothy Ferguson, a partner of the Jewetts, owned adjacent property.
3k c. 1830 House -- 97 Main Street
On the maps of 1865 and 1872 this house appears to be owned by non-residents such as the Nealleys or the Plumers, thus likely rented to someone working at the textile mill.
3l c. 1830 Ebenezer Hanson House - 15 Sewall Road
On the map of 1872 this house seems to be owned by pharmacist and ink manufacturer Ebenezer S. Hanson (1825-1905), whose family owned several properties, including a drug store in Central Square. On the c. 1865 map it seems to be owned by a J. Frost. Today it contains Roaring Brook Consultants.
3m - Gilpatrick House - 110 Main Street
On the maps of c. 1865 and 1872, during the years of the Portsmouth Manufacturing Company cotton mill, a property at this location is said to belong to Ira Gilpatrick (1802-1878), tin manufacturer. A memoir of the 1830s says, On the brow of the hill just above Colcord's store, Gilpatric and Davis carried on an extensive tinware manufactory; they employed several men as peddlers who penetrated York County far and near, exchanging their wares for either cash, old iron, rags, sheepskins, old pewter, brass, and lead. In fact, almost anything was accepted in those days in the way of trade. The partners Gilpatrick and Davis also had property at Liberty and Vine Streets on the maps of 1865 and 1872.
3n c. 1870 House - 102 Main Street
The site seems unoccupied on a c. 1865 map, but on a map of 1872 the house seems to have belonged to a J. Bailey.
3o c. 1880 House - 120 Main Street
A map of c. 1865 shows a house owned by a Chadwick on this site, and that of 1872 shows one belonging to an M. Eastman. A memoir of the 1830s indicates the site had been the location of the home of Capt. William Lowell Foote, who in the early 1800s operated a woolen mill that preceded the cotton mill at the Landing. In 1833 this fulling mill moved to the Great Works site.
The old Maddox Store at the Landing on Pleasant Street at Liberty Street