The Port Plaza
The Port Plaza was where Newburyporters shopped in town for most of their everyday needs.
About Shawn Gearin - ModeratorShawn is a former NBPTMA resident from 1967-1996. He lived at 5 Walnut St in a gray Greek revival home. He was a Whittier Tech 1986 graduate and a Northern Essex Community college graduate where he wrote and photographed for both school's newspapers. Finishing his education at Hesser College and North Shore Community College, he received a BA in Business Management and a FAA Private Pilot Certification. An aviation, photography enthusiast and telecommunications project manager, he enjoys writing history, personal memoirs, and asking lots of questions on his hosted websites. Now a resident of North Carolina, he lives with his family in a 1930 farmhouse on a gentleman's farm surrounded by cattle from other nearby farms. YEAT!
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Duncan Chase Old Hill Burying Ground 
Father Gerard Darcia French Church. Federal St.
Hand Tubs / Firemen Musters/
Built: 1878 Manufacture: Button Cylinders: 10 Reg #: 650 Fire Department: Newburyport, Ma Class: A Neptune 8 – is owned by the Neptune Veteran Firemen’s Association of Newburyport Ma. ————————————————————————————————————- Ould Newbury Protection #1 -This pump’s hometown is Newbury, Ma. Built: 1865 Manufacture: J Cylinders: 10 Reg #: ?? Fire Department: Newbury, Ma Class: A […]
The bank to the left as you enter from Low St used to be a movie theater (The Brandt ?). In the 1970s we took our kids to see Disney favorites there. I also was in a hurry one evening to see a movie, I didn't remember that the movie changed on Fridays . . . I sat through about 20 minutes of The Postman Always Rings Twice before realizing that this was not what I wanted to see, so I promptly left.
In the mid 1970s my wife and I were in a band (named The Talismen after the group rejected The Shades Of Purple – my last name) and one of our earliest gigs was at a bar called The Black Sheep. The Black Sheep was located in what is now the credit union. We used my home speakers and my old Bogen amp for the PA. We only played there for one night . . . . Lead singer/guitar player was Fred Hopper, his wife Carol sang, Paul Charron was the rhythm guitar player and Dick Nichols was our first bass player. I played the drums and my wife sang.
Over where the dry cleaners is used to be a Montgomery Wards "catalog" store. Around 1984 I bought our first VCR there, for about $800. I also bought one of the first gaming consoles via their catalog – the Bally Arcade. You could buy hundreds of games to play on it, which you connected to your TV via the rabbit ears screws. Each game was on a chip inside what was a cassette tape cartridge. You pushed it into the unit and turned on the console. I still have the unit and lots of games.
The massage place (which used to be in the location of Planet Fitness) used to be a Radio Shack. I bought many a stereo component and speakers from them.
The Shaws building started out about 1/3 the size it is now.
Too many changes to the plaza since we moved into our house on Low St in 1972.
Hi Bob, thanks for a very informative post. It brings back a lot of memories for me as well. I remember buying my first computer in 1981 a Timex Sinclair at the Sears and Roebuck's catalog store a few stores to the right of Shaws and next to the Arlington Trust Company.