Building Resilience, Awareness - Advocacy - Action
Friday-Saturday-Sunday • May 17-18-19, 2024
The Newburyport Preservation Trust (NPT) is a non-profit membership organization that brings together people from Newburyport and beyond who value the preservation of the city’s period architecture, neighborhood ambience, heritage landscapes, and authentic historic character.
NPT educates, informs, and advocates through its programs, projects, publications, and presence. When you join NPT, you’ll be among advocates for Newburyport’s unique sense of place, its economic vitality, and environmental sustainability. “The greenest building is one that is already built.” — Carl Elefante, AIA.
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Through a combination of circumstance and vision, Newburyport has come to be known for its rich stock of early American domestic architecture in First Period, Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival styles. Also found in Newburyport’s National Register Historic District are 19th- and early 20th-century styles, from 1850s mill-worker homes, to ornate 1880s Victorians, to 1920s four-squares.
How did Newburyport get this way? On the History and Architecture page you’ll learn how a handful of 1960-70s visionaries diverted the wrecking ball in favor of preservation, sparking a renaissance that lifted the city out of decades of economic stagnation. You’ll also find a guide to architectural styles, photo galleries in PDF format, links to historic maps, a local history bibliography with links to full texts, and the must-see video documentary about Newburyport’s restoration, A Measure of Change (1975).
A major component of NPT’s mission is preservation advocacy. As champions of the the economic, aesthetic, cultural, and environmental benefits of preservation, NPT consults with homeowners and developers, and participates in preservation-related hearings before city boards. The aim is to slow down the rate at which the city’s remaining authenticity is whittled away in a “death by a thousand dumpsters.”
On the Preservation Advocacy page you’ll also learn about 21st-century preservation history in Newburyport, and how the city’s pro-preservation zoning laws were unanimously adopted in 2014. For “calls to action” about immediate preservation issues, visiting the Newburyport Preservation Trust at Facebook: www.facebook.com/newburyportpreservationtrust.
NPT’s Historic House Plaque Program provides owners of historic homes in Newburyport with the opportunity to showcase their dedicated stewardship with a plaque validated by the Newburyport Preservation Trust that indicates the original owner, their occupation, and date. Central to the program, and of particular historical value, is the verification of dates, names, and facts by experienced researchers. See complete information at the Historic House Plaque Program page, including photos of selected homes in the program, a map of NPT plaques in place, and an application form for your own NPT Historic House Plaque.
The Preservation Resources page is your portal to preservation-related knowledge, from the theoretical to the practical. You’ll find links to preservation organizations; museum & history organizations; preservation publications & databases; video resources; books on architecture, craftsmanship, & preservation; preservation-related blogs; … and NPT’s own Historic House Buyer’s Guide.
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At the Events & Projects page you’ll learn about NPT’s signature event, the week-long Newburyport Preservation Week every spring, featuring illustrated lectures, tours, social events, and the annual preservation awards presentation. You’ll also learn about lectures, seminars, and programs on preservation-related topics as they are announced.
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For comprehensive understanding of NPT’s efforts to preserve Newburyport’s varied architectural assets and singular ambience, the News Blog & Archive page hosts the archive of the NPT Quarterly News from 2013 to the present. For information on the most immediate preservation issues, visit the Newburyport Preservation Trust at Facebook:
www.facebook.com/newburyport
preservationtrust.
Powder House Park & Learning Center opened in 2012 after nine years of planning, research, and restoration. In 2013 NPT’s efforts to preserve the long-neglected 1822 Powder House were recognized nationally with an Award of Merit from the American Association for State & Local History (AASLH). At the Powder House page you’ll learn about the restoration, the seasonal schedule, tours offered during special events, and how to secure a spring or fall date for a school group visit.
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