Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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Eclectic Artifacts: The Cushing House Museum has a plethora of Federal antiques. JOIN US FOR OUR OPEN HOUSE History ne 148 THE HOUSE Cushing House Museum, Newburyport Built in 1808 in the Federal style THE STORY Newburyport's history is rich with tales of sea captains, shipwrecks, and the China trade, and it's all encapsulated in the Cushing House Museum, a beautifully preserved house museum that's also home to the Historical Society of Old Newbury. Here, the history of Old Newbury, which includes Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury, is on display throughout the house in items like ship's logs; fine china; clocks by early 19th-century Newburyport clockmaker David Wood; ladies' antique gowns, shoes, and tortoiseshell hair combs; remnants of the wreck of The Pocahontas; and pastels of Plum Island and flo al motifs by painter Laura Coombs Hills. "It doesn't evoke the life of any one family," Susan C. S. Edwards, executive director of the Historical Society of Old Newbury, says of the Cushing House. But one family did give the house its name and is largely responsible for the way the brick Federal-style home is so beautifully preserved. The Cushing family, which moved into the house in 1818, called the house home for more than 130 years. "Generations of a family grew up here and lived here," Ed- wards says. Among those family members was Caleb Cush- ing, a diplomat, Congressman, and mayor of Newburyport, who negotiated the first treaty between the United States and China. The Cushing House's Oriental Room contains items collected from his travels, as well as personal pieces, such as a small chest in which Caleb kept things belonging to his wife, who died young, including her portrait, books, letters, and even her wedding bonnet. "It's a wonderful little Photograph courtesy of Cushing House Museum