AUDIO TEXT:
Site No. 19. The American Legion Building.
On September 15, 1968, Newmarket lost a major downtown landmark. The following is from the report “Newmarket Building Lost in Town’s Most Costly Blaze” in Foster’s Daily Democrat:
“For 134 years the building had been a Newmarket landmark. The brickwork had been so well constructed that after the 1968 fire, the structure remained with the curved stairway intact. It took a demolition crew and cranes to take it down. The Robert G. Durgin American Legion Post No. 67 owned the southern half of the building; a center section was owned by John Chantre; the northern part belonged to William Sobozenski.”
It was four stories high in the rear and three stories in front on Main Street. Its construction in 1834 came about thanks to the wheeling and dealing of one James B. Creighton. Earlier this parcel of land had been owned jointly by Benjamin Mead and Wentworth Cheswill, but by 1826 the Newmarket Manufacturing Company had acquired most of the land around the Lamprey River. That’s when James Creighton came to town. Focusing on the land on the south side of “the Creek” Creighton began to buy property and find partners, and parcels of land were bought and sold in a dizzying progression.
Initial plans for the brick building were not made public, but as construction progressed, people marveled at the rounded brickwork of south stairway. It was completed by 1834, and the land under it was divided among Creighton and his two partners—Miles Durgin and Perley Blodgett. Creighton’s share was the largest.
During the next 134 years, the building was repeatedly subdivided and reconfigured. There would be at least 35 different owners, with an unknown number of tenants over the years. Among the tenants were stores of all kinds, offices, lunchrooms, and Charlie Wong’s laundry.
In 1921 the Pocassett Tribe of the Order of Red Men purchased part of the block and did major renovations. In 1948 the Red Men sold to the American Legion. During the 1950s and 60s, it was always called the American Legion Building.
Newmarket’s American Legion Post 67 was formed in December 1919, and named in honor of Robert G. Durgin, who had died during World War I. For nearly 30 years the Legion met on the second floor of the bank across the street. Like its predecessor, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Legion had hometown posts, with community-based activities. It worked to improve veterans’ benefits and welcomed veterans of color—even during the Jim Crow era.
Continue toward Water Street. Site Number 20 is on the corner.
END OF AUDIO TEXT. See below for photos and more information.
XXX
Site No. 19 (151 Main Street) AMERICAN LEGION POST #67 – 1969. A 1968 fire destroyed an earlier, very impressive structure—the 1834 Brick Creighton Block.
On September 15, 1968, Newmarket lost a major downtown landmark. The following is from the report, “Newmarket Building Lost in Town’s Most Costly Blaze” in Foster’s Daily Democrat:
The most destructive fire in recent town history, and one of the largest in the area in recent years caught firemen by surprise one minute before midnight Saturday. The ancient brick structure housing the American Legion Hall, a beauty shop and several apartments, on lower Main Street, is considered a total loss…
…at the back of the building where the roof is perhaps 5 stories high from the ground due to the contour of the land, the fire quickly caught hold. Before [it] could be noted from the ground, the fire had been spotted …at the Exeter Country Club, and by a plane based at Pease Air Force Base…
In the backyard, firemen extended the ladder to the roof, and when the fire became too hot, attached a hose to the top of the ladder and descended. For two hours the hose at the top of the ladder was used to sweep the entire back roof…by rotating the ladder…Newmarket firemen credited this maneuver with being essential to the prevention of the spread of the fire throughout the Main St. area of town…
For 134 years the building had been a Newmarket landmark. The brickwork had been so well constructed that after the 1968 fire, the structure remained with the curved stairway intact. It took a demolition crew and cranes to take it down. The Robert G. Durgin American Legion Post No. 67 owned the southern half of the building (on the right); a center section was owned by John Chantre; the northern part belonged to William Sobozenski.
Beginning in the 1830s a number of handsome brick masonry buildings dotted the southern end of Main Street. The largest was the three-story brick building known as the Creighton Block. Occupying the present site of the American Legion, it was four stories high in the rear and three stories in front on Main Street.
James B. Creighton had moved to Newmarket In 1826. By then, the Newmarket Manufacturing Company had already acquired most of the land around the Lamprey River. Indeed, Creighton’s first establishment in Newmarket was on NMCo land—in a building that was the mill’s first company store. He was renting. But that was about to change.
Focusing on the land on the south side of “the Creek” Creighton began to buy property from the remaining landowners; he found partners, and then acquired more property. Beginning in 1831, lots were subdivided, deeds were drawn up, and parcels of land were bought and sold in a dizzying progression. For 40 years, this parcel of land had been owned jointly by Benjamin Mead and Wentworth Cheswell. By 1834, after the new brick structure was completed, the land under it was divided among Creighton and his partners. Creighton’s share was the largest.
In his 1880 autobiography (Transcribed, 2010 by George F. Walker, Jr. Donated to the New Market Historical Society) he tells his story:
Finding it difficult to get gondaloes to carry our wood to Portsmouth, I built one for that purpose, which I afterwards sold, after that & after first entering into an agreement with Doc. Blodgett & Miles Durgin to be partners with me in the undertaking, I purchased of W’m Tenney Esq. a lot of land on the Southwesterly corner made by the intersection of Main & Creek Streets, [today Creek Street is Creighton Street] on which there was standing a new Stable 48 feet in length & thirty six feet wide, for which Stable and lot paid two thousand dollars, then hired Captain Woodbury to move said stable to the Southeast corner of the lot. He very carefully performed the job, without taking the stable down, & I paid him $136 for the job.
“By request of my partners in the undertaking, purchased bricks, lime, lumber for flooring & roof, & after having the foundation therefor, laid by Captain Eben Smith, built a three-Story Brick Building about 100 feet long in front & about 40 feet wide with a basement Story.
The basement of my part I finished partly as a cellar & partly for a store, on the end adjoining Durgin’s part, a room to use with my dwelling tenement, reserving a space between that & the storeroom for an entry and stairway, on the next floor above.
According to Newmarket historian Nellie Palmer George, it was designed by “Schoolmaster Tasker.” She described how James B. Creighton had brought in partners on the venture, and how it was constructed in secrecy. Initial plans were not made public, and this caused much curiosity among townsfolk. As the building went up, there was the marvel of the rounded corner which was considered a difficult piece of brickwork in the Gothic style. The head mason of the Newmarket Manufacturing company stated he had no mason here who could copy it. [1]
Once finished, the southern half of the building went to Creighton. Perley Blodgett got the north end, and Miles Durgin’s section was in the middle. During the next 134 years, these subdivisions were further subdivided and reconfigured. There would be at least 35 different owners. (G. Walker and R. Jackson describe these transfers in their study of J.B. Creighton.)
Before leaving his earlier store (which he rented from the NMCo) James Creighton moved his goods into the new building and sold half of his stock to John C. Tasker, who (in company with his son Z. D. Creighton) traded from the old store for at least a year. From Creighton’s section he sold lumber from his first-floor shop; the family lived above, and the third floor was rented to the public for events and meetings. The lumber business did well, and Creighton invested in a flat-bottomed barge to make deliveries up and down the Lamprey River.
It had taken a year to build, starting in 1833; it was 100 feet long and 40 feet wide with a “gothic” rounded brick corner constructed by expert masons. It was described in 1908 as the “most attractive, up-to-date business block, a modern, high-posted, three-story brick building fronting on Main Street”.
Given its size and variety of spaces (commercial, residential, social) it housed various businesses and offices to include grocery, dry goods, restaurants, beauty salons, pool hall, and tailor and jewelry shops. Upstairs stories containing apartments; and the third story had a large reception hall which was home over the years to the G.A.R., Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Red Men, the WWI Veterans of Chateau Thierry, and the American Legion.
The Newmarket Street & House Directory 1927-29 shows the street numbering and tenants for the Creighton Block:
Sylvia Fitts Getchell (1925-2012) researched and recorded the following information on many buildings in town—including this building—all before the convenience of online research.
A look at 1891-1932 copies of The Newmarket Advertiser gleans more details:
They did considerable renovations, making the third and fourth stories into one room for the council chamber. Hardwood floors and a metal ceiling were added. On the second floor there was a club room, a kitchen, a coat room and a toilet. An enclosed staircase on the rear of the building provided direct outdoor access to the council chamber.
The American Legion bought the Pocassett Red Men section in 1948. During the 1950s and 60s the Creighton Block came to be known as the American Legion building.
Before there was an American Legion, there was the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.). [2] Newmarket’s chapter of the G.A.R. (see Site No. 13) and its auxiliary The Women’s Relief Corps had been active for well over 50 years. But the G.A.R. was an organization limited only to those who were veterans of the Civil War, so membership was dwindling. (Nationally, the G.A.R. came to an end in 1956, when the last member died.)
Unlike the G.A.R., the American Legion was formed as an organization for all veterans. But in many ways, the two organizations are much the same:
In 1919, the national framework for the American Legion was chartered by Congress. On July 4th of that year, the newly-formed American Legion headquarters in Manchester announced a series of tours around the state to promote the organization of local posts.
Newmarket formed its own post on December 19, 1919, naming it in honor of one of their fallen, Robert G. Durgin.
By 1922, Newmarket women had formed an American Legion Auxiliary, evolving from the earlier Women’s Relief Corps.
During the 1920s the American Legion Hall was on the second floor of the “new” (1909) bank. Not until 1948 did Post No. 67 relocate to the Creighton Block. While the Legion did not own the entire building, it became known as the American Legion building until it was destroyed by fire in 1968.
[1] Nellie Palmer George, Old Newmarket, p. 87i
[2] The American Legion Magazine. In “Bound by a tie others know not,” Barbara Gannon writes about the GAR as a precursor to the American Legion. November 2011