Caldwell’s Distillery, Newburyport, Mass. (Detail), established 1790, The Snow Collection, The Museum of Old Newbury
Alexander Caldwell
Alexander Caldwell (1747-1832) established Caldwell’s distillery in 1772. The distillery remained in the family for many generations, the factories were located at the foot of Kent Street. The famous New England distillery sold Caldwell’s Old Newburyport Rum all over the world.*
A.& G. J. Caldwell warehouse, Newburyport Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection
Caldwell’s Distillery, the foot of Kent Street, Courtesy of The Museum of Old Newbury, The Snow Collection
The brick three story warehouse has a date stone of 1876.** The distillery itself, was made out of wood and has since been destroyed. The warehouse is the only surviving structure that was once one of Newburyport’s largest industries. It is an excellent example of a victorian utilitarian building, with a dentil cornice, arched windows and squared grant lintels above the original doorways.^* The 1851 and 1872 maps show the distillery and Caldwell’s Wharf, the warehouse had not been built yet, it shows up on the 1884 map. There are photographs of both the warehouse and the distillery from the Museum of Old Newbury, so we know what the large complex looked like. The wharf has since been filed in and is now part of Cashman Park, owned by the City of Newburyport.
Alexander Caldwell, History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, by Hurd, Duane Hamilton, ed
Caldwell Rum receipts, 1808, Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
1851 Map, showing Caldwell Wharf and Distillery, the warehouse has not been built yet.
1872 Map, Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center, showing Caldwell Wharf and Distillery, the warehouse has not been built yet.
1884 Map, showing Caldwell Wharf and Distillery, the warehouse has been built.
An advertisement for A.& G. J. Caldwell, Distillers
Cornelius Leary & Company
In 1924 the heirs of Alexander and and George J. Caldwell, descendants of Alexander Caldwell, sold the brick warehouse to John F. Leary,*** son of Cornelius Leary. “Leary’s opened in 1897, by Cornelius Leary, Leary’s is the Bay State’s oldest purveyor of Wine and Spirits. Cornelius would use a horse and wagon to sell his libations in the area, customers living nearby would brought their own pails to Leary’s to fill them from large barrels.”^^ According to John F. Leary’s obituary, Cornelius Leary & Company dates back to 1900.**^ Originally located at 120 Merrimac Street, near the railroad and Strong Street, it appears that the bottling company got their first license to sell liquor in 1903.^^*
Leary’s Fine Wines & Spirits, the old Caldwell Rum warehouse, the City of Newburyport, Newburyport Historic Surveys, 1980
Cornelius was born in 1866 in Cork, Ireland and died in Newburyport in 1910. His son, John F. Leary, went to Suffolk Law School and was a member of the Massachusetts bar, but he chose to remain in the bottling business and ran C. Leary & Company after his father’s death. He served in World War I and was a prominent Newburyport business man and citizen.^^^ The headline in the Newburyport Daily News, June 25, 1953 was, “Church Thronged for Final Rites of John F. Leary.”
C. Leary & Company, from the website of Leary’s Fine Wines & Spirits
Advertisement for C. Leary & Company, Newburyport Daily News, November 3, 1905
Sanborn Fire Map, 1914, Library of Congress, showing where C. Leary & Company was originally located at 120 Merrimac Street.
Today Newburyport is lucky to have Leary’s Fine Wines & Spirits which has served the community since 1925 in the old Caldwell Rum warehouse, after moving there from 120 Merrimac Street.
Caldwell Distillery Warehouse and Cornelius Leary & Company, at the bottom of Kent Street, the Interactive Newburyport History Map
Explore the Newburyport Interactive History Map – Keeping the Story Alive.
You might also like reading about 177 Merrimac Street – The Woodman House, Alexander Caldwell – Caldwell’s Old Newburyport Rum, The Essex House – A Hotel and then a Boarding House as well as the Park Lunch and four buildings once owned by the Caldwell family
~ History compiled by Mary Baker Eaton
Footnotes and References:
* Ghlee Woodworth, Clipper City Heritage Trail, Along the Water’s Edge by Land or By Sea, Caldwell’s Distillery
http://www.clipperheritagetrail.com/tour_alongwatersedge.php
** Lower Merrimack River Valley: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, by Peter Maloy, Editor, Washington 1976
^* The City of Newburyport, Newburyport Historic Surveys
*** Salem Deeds
^^ Website of Leary’s Fine Wines & Spirits
^^^ Newburyport Daily News June 25, 1958
**^ Newburyport Daily News June 23, 1958
^^* Newburyport Daily News, April 3, 1903
FamilySearch.org
Salem Deeds
Newburyport City Directories
Newburyport Historical Newspapers, the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
Sanborn Fire Maps, Library of Congress
1851 Map
1884 Map, Historic Map Works
1872 Map, Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
