Pennellville Historic District

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name = Pennellville Historic District
nrhp_type = hd


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location =Roughly bounded by Pennellville Rd., Middle Bay Cove, and Pennell Way
Brunswick, Maine
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added = October 10, 1985
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refnum = 85002923
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Pennellville Historic District is a U.S. residential district located in the town of Brunswick, Maine.

Overview

Significance

Pennellville Historic District is significant because of the historic mansions that are in the area. These mansions were built by the Pennell family in the 18th and 19th centuries. The area was also home to the Pennellville shipyard, where the Pennell family built wooden sailing ships for the shipping trade of the 1900s. The area was also home to the Pennell Brothers shipbuilding company. To the local inhabitants, the area is known simply as "Pennellville".

The real estate in Pennellville is known for being the most expensive in the area and for being some of the most expensive real estate in the entire state of Maine. This is due in large part to the fact that much of the land is waterfront property, and that it is home to desirable ship captains' mansions. Many people consider Pennellville to be the most beautiful residential address in the state of Maine, and all of New England.

Geography

Pennellville is located in the southern portion of Brunswick, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean. The bay where it sits is known as Middle Bay, which empties into Casco Bay.

Although no official boundaries have ever been designated, Pennellville does have a distinct area. The northern boundary of Pennellville is Middle Bay Road; the southern boundary is Middle Bay itself. As Pennellville sits on a peninsula, Middle Bay also forms the eastern boundary, and Simpson's Point Road serves as the western boundary. It is not thought that properties on Mere Point Road between Middle Bay Road and Simpson's Point Road are part of the area.

Local Government

Although Pennellville is a separate district, it is officially part of Brunswick, Maine, and all matters of local government are handled by Brunswick's town government. Residents also use Brunswick's post office, police department, fire and rescue departments, library, and public school system.

History

Native Americans

Before white settlers, Pennellville was inhabited by Native Americans. Evidence of their presence has been detected, as arrowheads and stores of shellfish have been found along Pennellville's seashore. Native Americans ate large amounts of shellfish found in Middle Bay, and discarded the shells in huge piles on the shores. It is not known if Native Americans were still in the area when the first European settlers arrived. It is also unknown whether the relationship between the Natives and European settlers was hostile or friendly.

European Settlers

The first Pennell to settle in the area was Thomas Pennell II. His father, Thomas I, immigrated from the Isle of Jersey (in England) around the year 1708, and settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He married a woman by the name of Sarah Durin, sired two sons and two daughters, and died in 1723. When his two sons, Thomas II and Clement, came of age, both moved north to Falmouth, Maine (now called Portland) in about 1735, purchasing land in the Stroudwater area. Thomas lost his land in 1859 due to a legal encumbrance and as a result he, along with his family, moved to the Brunswick area in 1760. He built the first house in Pennellville at that time. However, this house no longer stands.

Thomas II's second son of five was Thomas III, born in 1739. Thomas III was active in the Brunswick area, becoming tax collector and was a shipwright in the 1790's. He married Alice Anderson of Freeport, Maine, and they had five sons and five daughters. Thomas III taught his sons the shipbuilding trade and together they expanded their shipbuilding activities and merchant shipping business around the turn of the century.

The eldest son of Thomas III was Jacob Pennell, born in 1778. He was the most properous of five sons, having built 20 or more vessels in Middle Bay between 1810 and 1841. He acquired most of the land at Pennellville (land originally owned by his father) by buying the lots that had been divided amongst his brothers. As of 2008, his house is the oldest standing house in Pennellville.

hipbuilding

The Pennell family was most likely building ships in the New World ever since Thomas I arrived from England. The earliest known records show that Jacob Pennell was building wooden ships around 1760. Over the next 114 years (1760-1874) the Pennell family would build in excess of 90 ships in the Pennellville Shipyard, making them one of the most prominent and wealthy shipbuilding families in all of America.

With the wealth acquired from the massively successful shipbuilding business, the Pennell family began building stately mansions. Jacob had several sons and, around this time, they christened the company the "Pennell Brothers" shipbuilding company.

Pennellville was soon considered its own community, and eventually three roads in the area would bare the Pennell name: Pennellville Road, Old Pennellville Road, and Pennell Way. Soon the area had its own schoolhouse and signs designating the area as being separate from Brunswick. In all, the Pennells built seven houses in the area between 1760 and 1877. Since 1877, housing development has been relatively sparse, and much of Pennellville remains wooded areas and open fields. However, it sould be noted that development has increased significantly since the 1980s.

While all other Pennells have since sold their properties, one descendant of Thomas I still lived in one of the Pennell mansions as of 2008.

Relatives and Guests

A notable relative of the Pennell family was Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert P.T. Coffin, who lived in the Jacob Pennell II Mansion. Coffin wrote the critically acclaimed historical novel "Captain Abby and Captain John," a story about two Pennell ship captains. The Pennells gained quite a bit of visibility during their boom period and entertained many famous guests, who often attended ship launchings. Notables who visited Pennellville mansions include such historic figures as Norman Rockwell, Hellen Keller, James Michener, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Maine Governor Angus King, and Brigadier General Joshua Chamberlain (Union Officer in the American Civil War who was instrumental in the victory at the Battle of Gettysburg).

Pennell and Brothers Shipbuilding Company

As stated before, the Pennell and Brothers shipbuilding company built many of the wooden ships that carried cargos around the world in the 18th and 19th Century cargo trade. Sometimes the family would retain ownership of the ships and charge fees for shipping cargos, sometimes shares of a ship would be sold, and sometimes a ship would be sold outright. Pennells also acted as captains of many of the ships they built. The business operated out of the shipyard located in Pennellville. The site of the yard, including the "ways" from which a ship was launched were located in the Pennellville bay. The shipyard was moved to three locations in the bay during the operation of the company. The first site was located deep inland, furthest away from the entrance to the ocean. The yard was moved twice after this, getting closer to the entrance to the ocean with each move.

It is known with certainty that the Pennell family was building ships in Pennellville by 1760. However, as stated above, the Pennell family was almost definitely building ships in America before the first records of such activities in the 1760s. This is thought because ancestors who pre-date Thomas I (the first Pennell in America) were shipbuilders in England.

Routes and Cargos

The ships carried all sorts of cargos, amongst them: timber, deadstock, wine, guano, salt, fruit and myriad other products. Often times they would also transport people as passengers from port to port for a fee. It is noted, however that the company was never involved in the American slave trade.

Ships sailed to ports all over the world, and traded their cargos there. Included in their routes were ports in England, Italy, California, and China-along with many others. Their shipping routes included the infamous run around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. This route was world-famous for being extremely dangerous. Undaunted, the Pennell family sailed it many times.

hips

The Pennells built many different styles of ships including barques, schooners, sloops, and brigs. The largest ships weighed over 1,400 tons, while the smallest weighed as little as 45 tons. The Benjamin Sewall, the biggest ship ever produced by the yard, weighed 1,433 tons. Completed in 1874, it would also prove to be the last ship ever built by the yard. It sank and was lost in 1903.

Demise of the Shipyard

Although it is not certain what caused the demise of the yard, there are several factors that likely contributed to its decline. By the end of the 1800s, metal hulled steamships had replaced wooden ships as a means of transporting goods around the world. This was combined with the fact that railroads had also come into their own as a means of shipping cargos across a continent. For example, by the end of the 1800s it was faster and safer to ship cargos by railroad from New York City to San Francisco than it was sail around Cape Horn in a wooden ship.

Around this same time, James Pennell (master builder of the Pennell Brothers company) died as a result of an accident that occurred in the shipyard. As James was the last master builder of the Pennell family, his death was probably a major blow to the workings of the yard. By the early 1900s, the shipyard had gone out of business, although left standing were all of the stately mansions which the Pennell family had built there. It is also noted that evidence of the shipyard still exists there, such as the ways (the wooden ramp down which a ship was pushed in order to be launched).

References