Arthur St. Pierre, brick mason

1880s - St. Pierre Building - 480 Main Street

This property is thought by a previous owner to have been built in the 1880s and used as an apartment building.  It appears as a duplex on the map of 1927.  According to local residents, in the 20th century it contained the home of Arthur St. Pierre, brick mason.  It may also have been Frank S. Verge plumbing.

Frank S. Verge, Plumbing, Salmon Street, South Berwick – “Plumbing, Sheet Metal Work and Repairing of all Kinds in this Line – Steel Roofing and Metal Gutters a Specialty – Local Agents for The Glenwood Pipeless Furnace – Second Hand Stoves and Repairs of all Kinds – Store open from 8.00 A. M. to 8.00 P. M.”    – 1923 South Berwick Town Report

In the postcard below, a two-story apartment building with porches dominates the view. Former resident Will Williams grew up there, and says it was owned by Leo Vachon, who also owned a large barn next door, which he used for storage, and a walkway connected the two buildings on the third floor level.

"I grew up in the middle apt on the 2nd floor," Williams recalls, "and I can always remember the noise of water crashing over the dam of the Salmon Falls. Our back porch had a swinging couch overlooking those great falls. The building burned a few months after we moved out in 1961."

He added,  "I remember the day Fogarty's opened...they gave out free ice cream. It was Manders IceCream."

 

 

At right, postcard of Salmon Falls Bridge about 1900.