The History of our Historic Houses

 

Taken as a whole, the City of Newburyport's historic district is one of the most beautiful urban environments in the country.       But the architecture is varied.        To track each style is to travel through time from before our nation was even born.        The first architectural style, First Period, indicated a time when New England was a wild place of indians and deep stretches of forest and wetlands.      Each new style herald a portion of time when new attitudes prevailed, and new era's played out - all reflected in the architecture.        To enjoy the history of Newburyport's historic houses is to learn about our nation's long history.      

 

The term, historic as mentioned above is actually the Massachusetts' Building Code language for a house that is over 75 years old.      In Historic Preservation Terms, a house which is over fifty years old but does not have distinctive events or person(s) attached; is called an 'historical house' and is considered 'contributing' if included in a National Register historic district.      A house that is unique with a definite lineage of significant events or being the abode of a significant person or persons; is called an 'historic' house.

 

It is important that as much history as possible is identified with our antique homes in order to justify their preservation.     John Bromfield Society is dedicated to preserving our historic neighborhoods and thus, the preservation of as many as possible of these priceless treasures of American history should be sought and protected.          It is the authenticitiy of our history that leaves such a heavy weight of history that can be felt not just by the natives but by visitors from all over the world and needs to be preserved.