unique buildings

Boothbay Harbor Bridge House // 1902

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

In 1901, a footbridge was built in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, connecting the downtown area with the Mt. Pisgah and Spruce Point areas, which both developed as summer colonies. Within a year, this bridge house was built and occupied by William Foster, the bridge-tender who likely operated some sort of swing to allow vessels to pass by until the footbridge was largely replaced after the Great Freeze of 1918, without a swing or draw. When Mr. Foster operated the footbridge, others in town suspected some wrongdoing. A local selectman began investigating and as the story goes, Mr. Foster had been smuggling liquor into town via ships to this bridge house through a trap-door in the floor of the building. Maine was a dry state, and William would have been able to bring in illegal alcohol to the town. Later uses of the building included a candy shop, gift shop, and the bridge house is now a private residence, with thousands passing by every summer.

Dr. Jenks Apothecary Shop // c.1860

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Who doesn’t love a good flatiron building?! This charming three-story with Mansard roof building is located in the Bulfinch Triangle district of Boston. The triangular-shaped building was built around 1860 as an apothecary shop for Dr. Thomas Leighton Jenks (1829-1899), a doctor who was born in Conway, New Hampshire, but left for Boston while still a teenager. When the Mexican-American War broke out in 1846 he enlisted in the Navy, where he served for three years in the hospital ward of the frigate U.S.S. United States. Upon returning from the war, Jenks attended Harvard Medical School, and wrote his thesis on Syphilis. Dr. Jenks apprenticed in a building on this site under Dr. Samuel Trull. He likely redeveloped or modernized the 1850s building, adding the mansard roof by the 1860s. During the Civil War, Dr. Jenks served as a front line surgeon. After returning home, he grew tired of the medical profession, and got involved with local politics. He was elected as an alderman, Massachusetts state representative, and in later years he earned appointments as Chairman of the Boston Board of Police, and Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Public Institutions. He tragically collapsed and died in 1899 at a Boston courthouse. As a tribute to his birthplace, Dr. Jenks made a provision in his will for the funds necessary to build a public library in Conway, New Hampshire, which is still in use today. Somehow, the old Dr. Jenks Apothecary Shop has survived all this time as the city grows and changes all around it. The building saw life later as a restaurant and offices.