SPARROW Israel Parkers Yacht

SPARROW Israel Parkers Yacht

Israel Parker's Yacht SPARROW Israel Parker was a master builder in Belfast who is credited with the construction of many of the city's most important buildings. He was the builder of record for City Hall, The Crosby Inn, and the Masonic Temple. CITY HALL THE THOMAS H. MARSHALL POST, No. 42, G.A.R., was organized in Belfast, June 7, 1881. In January, 1886, the Post first occupied old Phoenix Hall, and remained there until the destruction of the building by fire the following June. It then obtained quarters in a building on Main Street. For several years the Post made efforts to raise funds for a soldier's monument. Although the subscriptions were liberal, sufficient money was not obtained. Suggestions that a building combining accommodations for city purposes and a hall for memorials of those of our fellow citizens who had given their lives to the country, with quarters for the survivors of the great conflict, met with general favor. The Angier property having been purchased for $2450, the Washington Hall lot for $1500; and the Church Street store lot for $150, work was immediately commenced by Israel Wood Parker, contractor, according to plans made by Brigham & Spofford, of Boston, architects. The building was completed the following year. It is irregular in shape, two stories and a basement, with projections and a cupola. It has an unbroken front of fifty feet on High Street, and the same, irregularly, on Church Street. From one projection to the other it is sixty-nine feet and two inches. The building is of brick, with granite belting and terra-cotta finish. The interior is finished in ash and in the most substantial manner throughout. The basement is used for the fire department of the city. The first floor, with the entrance from Church Street, is occupied by the Belfast City Government, Police Court, and Treasurer's offices. The city government rooms are supplied with handsome furniture, each member having a table and chair. On the second floor is Memorial Hall, occupied by Thomas H. Marshall Post, the Sons of Veterans and the Ladies' Relief Corps. The cost of the whole was about $25,000. THE CROSBY INN In October, 1887, Colonel Richard Chenery, Calvin Hervey, Israel Wood Parker, Alden Darwin Chase, Albion H. Bradbury, Nathan Foster Houston, James Thomas Pottle, A. Cutter Sibley, and Seth Llewellyn Milliken were incorporated under the name of "The Belfast Hotel Company." The sum of $21,650 having been subscribed by thirty-two stockholders, all of Belfast; the Crosby lot, in the rear of the Custom-House, was purchased for $6500 as a site, and the erection of a house, to be called " The Crosby Inn," immediately commenced. The house was opened June 1, 1889. Its situation combined glimpses of the bay from the upper stories, trees and shrubbery, spacious grounds, and complete retirement, with close proximity to the business center of the City. In June, 1879, the rooms in the Johnson Block, which had been occupied by the Belfast National Bank since 1857, were exchanged for more commodious quarters in the present banking house. This building, then about half the present size, was erected in 1878-79. Its form was that of an irregular triangle, measuring twenty-nine feet on Main Street, thirty-eight feet on Beaver Street, and nine feet fronting Custom-House Square. The architect was George M. Harding, of Boston, and the master-builder was Israel Wood Parker, of Belfast. THE MASONIC TEMPLE The partial destruction of Masonic Hall, by an accidental fire on the evening of May 24, 1875, induced a movement for more spacious accommodations, which resulted in the incorporation, by the Legislature of 1876, of the Masonic Temple Association of Belfast, for the purpose of procuring a lot and erecting a Masonic building thereon. Early the next year, sufficient subscriptions warranted the purchase of the lot at the corner of Main and High streets, for $7500, and in June, ground for the foundation of the present Masonic Temple was broken. The building was completed in 1878. It is 83½ feet long on High Street, and 54 feet wide on Main Street. It is three stories high, surmounted by a mansard roof, and has a tower at the northwest corner. The material is brick, with freestone trimmings. The whole structure is supplied with water, steam, and gas. There are three stores on High Street, first occupied by Charles Henry Mitchell, confectioner; Cyrus R. Davis, groceries, and Carle & Mansfield, dry goods dealers. The adjoining corner store, having entrances on both streets, was taken by Horace Eugene McDonald, jeweler; and that below on Main Street by Ferguson & Rackliff, milliners. The second story was devoted to offices, and the third and fourth to the Masonic Fraternity, whose hall proper, at the south end, is 46½ by 40½ feet, and 21½ feet high. George M. Harding was the architect of the building, and Israel Wood Parker the builder.