Jerry A. Mullins is a resident of Newburyport, Massachusetts and active in the cultural and historical preservation of the City. A 37-year occupent active in various efforts to prevent the destruction of our priceless historical architecture and the amazing cultural heritage in a community that has been around since 1764 (and if you include the larger Newbury settlement even earlier)
An amateur historian since 2008, have been busy digging up lost treasures in a city that was the Birthplace of the Coast Guard and the Birthplace of the Clipper Ship and the citizens delved into a wide range of industries from combs, hats, ship construction of every type and size, silversmithing, shoes, international trade and even housing a U.S. mint.
A city that was active in the Puritan Era, First Great Awakening, Piracy, Privateering, Smuggling, the American Revolution and the War of 1812. It has retained its legacy through architecture that has spawned from First Period, then Colonial, then Georgian, and in the new nation, Federalist and Greek Revival with a smattering of Italianate & Second Empire (Napoleon III).
The entire Romantic Era was superseded by an industrial era around 1864 that had the city largely turn its back on its maritime history. By the 1960’s, as industry left America’s shores; the community deteriorated and much was boarded up with entire streets with no paint on the buildings as no one could afford it!
Then the Promotion Era arrived in 1964 slowly turning the city from a slum-laden site to a fashionable affluent community. Now the danger comes from three sources: One, greedy developers who wish to demolish or gut priceless treasures for a quick exploitive profit, Two, home purchasers from the rest of America, fascinated with the shiny and the new allowing these developers to exploit them, and finally, Three, short-sighted bankers and politicians who see the first two trends filling the city’s budget in the short haul.
It leaves dedicated volunteers in under-funded organizations such as the Newburyport Preservation Trust to stop these self-destructive trends as well as many independent citizens who care to see their property values preserved, and who will fight to stop the destruction of irreplicable historical artifacts, landscapes and sites.
This website in one small way, will join that struggle to show the value of Newburyport’s history and the extreme importance to preserve it and to use ecological and heritage tourism as a revenue generator to benefit the community.
Jerry A. Mullins