In 1896, Edward L. Bailey, a carpenter and housebuilder, erected this cottage on Haven Avenue in Rockport, Massachusetts. Bailey resided in the house, likely year-round and ran a store on the nearby main street. His cottage served as both a residence and an advertisement for his skilled carpentry, which likely offered him commissions for other cottages nearby. Bailey was also selected as the builder for the town’s Carnegie Library in 1907. The cottage blends Queen Anne and Shingle styles effectively under one roof.
Ebenezer Pool (1764-1842) was born in Sandy Bay, a village of Gloucester which later became Rockport. Ebenezer was a direct descendant of John Pool, the second settler of the area, who helped facilitate its beginnings from rocky coastline to vibrant town. Ebenezer was active in the establishment of the Baptist community in Sandy Bay, and his name heads the list of eighteen charter members who were organized into a Baptist Church in 1808 inside his own home, seen here. The Federal style home sits on a prominent lot in the village near Bearskin Neck and looks much like when it was built over 200 years ago.
This Unitarian Universalist Church in Rockport was built in 1829 after 23 founders came together to sign a compact to build a new church. The Gothic Revival church building was given its 93-foot steeple in 1867 and it has stood tall since! The church stands just off Main Street and has long been active in local and national events since its founding. The church’s website states, “In 1843, we prepared resolutions against slavery, intemperance, and war. In 1861, a person threw a smoking bomb through a window into our sanctuary, during an anti-slavery lecture by a noted abolitionist. The crowd evacuated, but later returned to hear the rest of the talk. In 1884, our Society hired its first female pastor, Lorenza Haynes, past Chaplain to The Maine Senate and House.“ Today, the church collaborates with the Cape Ann Slavery and Abolition Trust, which investigates and shares the role the slave trade played in Cape Ann’s families, industries, and economies and in the lives of enslaved people.
Located along Granite Street in Pigeon Cove of Rockport, a very late stone Mansard building stands right at the side of the road. Luckily, the building’s name and date of construction were carved into the stone, allowing for a pretty quick research on this building, which was at one point, the headquarters office of the Rockport Granite Company. The building served as one of the quarry offices of the company’s many quarries where managers would oversee shipments and run each branch.
The history of the granite industry in Rockport and greater Cape Ann is truly fascinating and detailed, but essentially began in 1840 when many quarries opened which then provided rough and hammered granite for building, cemetery and monumental work. In 1864 an earlier quarry was reorganized as the Rockport Granite Company. The company expanded its facilities, and gradually bought out six other quarries on Cape Ann. At its peak, the company employed over eight hundred men across all their quarries. Due to the deep water off Cape Ann, transportation of the cut granite to Boston, New York City and Washington D.C. for a variety of large projects was easy.
One of the most prominent local examples of the Rockport Granite Company’s work is the Custom House tower in Downtown Boston.When it was completed in 1915, the 500-foot tower was Boston’s first “skyscraper.” It remained Boston’s tallest building until 1964, when the Prudential Center was built. The tower was constructed entirely of Rockport granite supplied by the Rockport Granite Company. A crowning achievement was the sculpting and placement of four stone eagles on each corner of the 30-story tower’s 20th floor ledge.The 16-foot tall eagles were sculpted in Rockport Granite Company’s Bay View plant, transported to Boston, raised to the 20th floor, and mounted, where they remain today. The first of the eagles was installed in 1914.
Buildings of New England 