Atkinson Common 1900 (Detail), The Snow Collection, The Museum of Old Newbury, a view of what once was Moultonville
Henry W. Moulton was born in Ossipee, New Hampshire on May 3rd, 1833. He came to Newburyport when he was twenty, his first business was a drug and paint business on State Street. He married Miss Susan F. Whittemore in 1855, they had six children, 5 daughters and their only son died at nine months. Moulton went into the real estate business and did very well. He also became a soldier in the Civil War, rose to the rank of captain and was discharged because of malaria. Between 1866-1868 he built Moulton Castle (please see Moulton Castle on the Interactive Map and this website). He bought up land in the North End of Newburyport between Mosley Avenue and Merrimac Street. He constructed a carriage manufacturing factory on Moulton Street and Cushing Avenue, the Moultonville Academy on a corner of Moulton Street and Cushing Avenue, John McQuillan had built a two story factory at the corner of Cushing and Hardy (once named Kelly) Streets.
Christ Chapel 1938, Courtesy of Stephanie Cobb
38 Moseley Ave – 1981, Newburyport Historic Surveys
Captain Henry W. Moulton had big plans, in an 1872 survey he laid out the outline of what would become Moultonville. However, from 1873-1879 there was a global depression and Captain Moulton’s vision came to an end. He lost a great deal, including the carriage company and the Moulton Academy building, he appears to have temporarily lost Moulton Castle and a lot of the land that he had heavily mortgaged. He also appears to have recovered some of his property, but Moultonville never blossomed the way he had envisioned.
The Moulton School, courtesy of Eva Jackman
The Moultonville School, courtesy of Carlton Brown, Newburyport History Buffs, photograph appeared in the Newburyport Daily News, April 16, 1957.
The Moultonville School (please see it on the Interactive Map), run by the City of Newburyport, opened in 1880 at the corner of Cushing Avenue and New Street. Christ Chapel (please see it on the Interactive Map), was also built on Moulton Avenue at Merrimac Street in response to the population growth in Moultonville and was inaugurated in 1887. Captain Moulton died May 13, 1896. His wife Susan, who is mentioned on almost every deed and mortgage, after his death lived at the Second Empire house at what is now numbered 38 Mosley Avenue. That house was sold in 1907 and she and her daughter Alice Moulton lived in a rental house on High Street near Ashland Street. Susan Moulton died in 1912.
Henry Moulton
Moulton Castle, Penobscot Marine Museum
Moultonville gradually faded from the city’s landscape. The Moultonville School closed in 1957, the Chapel was made into a residence in 1958. The large tenement that Henry Moulton built was demolished in the 1950s as well, and a three story brick building on the corner of Hardy Street and Mosley Avenue had become a long time eyesore and was demolished in 1962.
1872 Map, Historic Map Works
The 1872 Survey done of Moutonville by Henry W. Moulton on Salem Deeds
The only image that I have been able to find is a detail from Atkinson Common taken in 1900 that shows the Carriage Manufacturing building, another factory and possibly the Moulton Academy that Henry Moulton built, but was never used for that purpose.
1884 Map showing Moultonville , Historic Map Works
1924 Newburyport Assessor’s Map, courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
Moultonville, the Interactive History Map
Explore the Newburyport Interactive History Map – Keeping the Story Alive
There is also a more detailed account of the Moultonville School and the Moultonville Church.
~ History compiled by Mary Baker Eaton
References:
Salem Deeds
FamilySearch.org
Newburyport City Directories
Newburyport Historic Newspapers, the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
Remembering Moultonville, Port’s lost neighborhood, As I See It by Joe Callahan May 14, 2015, The Newburyport Daily News
A little history of a little neighborhood school (the Moultonville School) As I See It by Joe Callahan, Feb 14, 2012, the Newburyport Daily News
Henry Moulton, builder of Newburyport’s only castle, As I See It by Joe Callahan, Apr 9, 2015 the Newburyport Daily News
The Moulton Annals by Henry William Moulton, published in 1906 (the genealogy by Captain Moulton and edited by his daughter by Claribel Moulton).
Moulton Hill. Residence of Henry W. Moulton, Newburyport, Mass., Salem State University
The Panic of 1973, Wikipedia
The 1872 Survey done by Henry W. Moulton on Salem Deeds
1872 Map, courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
1884 Map, Historic Map Works and the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
1924 Newburyport Assessor’s Map, courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
A huge “Thank you” to Jane Wallace Wild for helping me research, understand and find some very obscure deeds.
