Brick House of the Bagaduce

In November 1809, merchant James Crawford advertised for sale an assortment of earthenware he had received on the ship Thucidides and the brig Vigilant direct from Liverpool.

He planned to sell the earthenware – by the crate or in smaller quantities, along with “men’s and youths hats, baizes and flannels, salmon twine, etc.,” from his Brick Store in Castine.

The building, located near what is now the public parking area on the waterfront, already was several years old by then. For the next two centuries, the Yellow Brick House would watch over the comings and goings down the Bagaduce River and in and out of Castine Harbor. It was there when Thomas Jefferson was president, and when the British reoccupied Castine during the War of 1812; it was there when they tried to bring the railroad to town in the late 1800s and it was even there when the first class of midshipmen arrived at Maine Maritime Academy in the 1940s.

Now, MMA has purchased and refurbished the old building and will open it again Friday, Dec. 14, for another century of existence on the Castine waterfront. The building will house faculty offices for the Corning School of Ocean Studies and the Maritime-Aerospace Liaison Project. The main room will serve as a reception and information center that will help introduce visitors to the town and to the academy.

The Yellow Brick House had its beginnings near the end of the 18th century, according to John Staples, assistant to the president at MMA. John Lee, who served as a collector of customs for the then-bustling port of entry, owned the property and had the building constructed.

“We think it was one of the oldest brick buildings on this Peninsula,” Staples said.

The early history of the building is a bit murky, and there is some question as to whether it or a nearby brick building served as the town’s customhouse during Castine’s heyday as a busy port of entry. When the customhouse was moved to what is now the town’s post office after the War of 1812, the brick building continued to play a part in the town’s economy.

Since that time, the building has had a varied history. It played a role in Castine’s famous Rope Walk and also housed the Waldo Savings Bank for many years until the bank failed during the Great Depression. Many still remember its next incarnation as the Wardwell Sanitary Market, a grocery store that operated into the 1950s. It since has seen duty as a real estate office, art gallery and frame shop, an antique store and as a private residence.

Maine Maritime Academy purchased the building last year as part of its ongoing $21 million capital campaign using funds donated by the Davis Family Foundation of Falmouth and the Libra Foundation of Portland, along with other alumni and friends. The building cost the academy $270,000, and MMA has spent another $200,000 renovating the landmark.

The academy plans to name the building Bagaduce House in keeping with the former customhouse’s location overlooking the shores of the Bagaduce River, Staples said.

MMA officials hope the reception area at Bagaduce House will serve to acquaint more people with the academy, Staples said. Although the academy has other facilities on the waterfront, they are primarily for teaching and not generally open to the public, he said.

“A lot of people visit the waterfront but never make it up to the campus,” Staples said. “We feel that that’s one of the real assets of this building. It gives us a presence in the village area and a chance for more people to have an introduction to what the maritime academy is all about.”

The reception area will include small exhibits that focus on Maine Maritime and the history of the region. Staples said the academy hopes to work with the Castine Historical Society and the Wilson Museum, as well as the Maine State Museum, to provide a variety of shows throughout the year.

The first of the exhibits will feature the schooner Bowdoin, the 80-year-old Grand Banks knockabout schooner that was built specifically for Arctic exploration.

The Bowdoin traveled to the Arctic under the command of Adm. Donald B. MacMillan for more than 30 years. A National Historic Landmark and the official vessel of the state of Maine, the Bowdoin has been part of the academy’s sailing program since 1989. Since that time, the vessel has made four trips to its old cruising grounds, including two voyages that ventured above the Arctic Circle. Her current skipper, Eliott Rappaport, said long-range plans include other return trips to the Arctic.

“She’s certainly up to it,” Rappaport said. “She’s as good as new.”

The exhibit will include a painting of the Bowdoin and a framed flag that flew onboard the schooner during one of her Arctic voyages. At Friday’s ceremony, academy President Leonard Tyler will unveil a diorama, created by local model shipbuilder John Gardner, that depicts a scene from the Bowdoin’s voyage to the Arctic in 1923-24 when the 88-foot vessel spent the winter frozen in the ice at Refuge Harbor.

Gardner said he tried to recreate an old photograph taken from a hill overlooking Refuge Harbor. His recreation includes a full-scale model of the Bowdoin set in ice and featuring minute details such as an anchor that goes through the ice and down to the ocean floor, a set of snowshoes hanging in the rigging, and even an empty oil drum.

He said he was especially pleased that his model would be displayed in the old brick building, which he remembers from his childhood in the 1930s.

“When I was a little boy, the building was Wardwell’s Market. I’d go in and get a loaf of bread and I’d get to keep the penny,” he said. “I remember the butcher would give me a small piece of meat – probably just to get rid of me – and I’d use it as bait. I’d go down to the dock and catch big flounder.”

Funds for the creation of the diorama were raised through contributions from shipmates who had sailed on the Bowdoin, including some who sailed with MacMillan.

The public dedication and open house at Bagaduce House will begin at 3:30 p.m. Friday.