Built in 1845/6 for Gabriel Mark(s)
A modest Greek Revival in the Munjoy Hill Historic District.
John & Barbara Mark came to the US in 1828. With them were 4 children, Godfrey, Gabriel, Elisabeth, & Louisa. The sons were 20 & 18 respectively and the girls, 9 & 7. The family was from Zofingen Switzerland where the males were all involved in metal related trades. John and Gabriel were cutlers while Godfrey was a tinsmith. They arrived in Portland on August 18 and by the 29th, John had established himself on Center Street. In time, both Godfrey & Gabriel would follow his path.
John & Barbara Mark were 45 when they arrived and they stayed in the city for a while. The 1834 city directory showed the family, excluding Godfrey who was living on Hampshire, living on Dyer Lane which ran from Wilmot to Franklin Streets between Cumberland & Oxford. What happened to them is unknown as they are not listed in any census, city directory, or death records.
Gabriel Mark had married Harriet Talbot of Portland in 1833. She was born to Royal & Abigail Sawyer Talbot in 1814. The Mark’s first child, John, was born in 1837 and died the following year. In 1840, another John was born but he died the following year as well. Charles Mark was born in 1840 and Louisa In 1844. Harriet gave birth to a third John in 1849. He died of scarlet fever in 1857. In 1858, Frank Mark was born.
In early September of 1845, Gabriel Mark paid William Hoit $150.00 for 4000 square feet of land on St Lawrence Street. Hoit was an early developer of the ‘Hill’ whom we have met before. What Mark had built was a 2 story brick block measuring 24′ on the street & 28′ deep. The attic is finished. Behind this is a 2 story wooden ell that is 12′ wide & 22′ deep. There is another wooden, single story, ell of the same width & 10′ deep.
1858 Portland City Directory. Google Books
Gabriel was a long time member of the Maine Charitable Mechanics Association. He served for many years on the Charity Committee of the association. The Marks were Congregational Church members and attended the 2nd parish on Middle Street. After the Great Fire, there was a debate as to what churches should be rebuilt with Gabriel arguing for a single parish. A new parish, the St Lawrence, was created on the Hill with the church being constructed across the street from our subject at the head of Sherbrook Street.
1882 Moulton revaluation map. Portland Public Library Digital Commons
Godfrey Mark died in early 1878 after which Gabriel continued the business on Pearl Street near Lincoln Park. 1878 was also the year he transferred 74 St Lawrence Street to Harriet. Gabriel Mark died on November 24 of 1880 at the age of 71. No cause of death is to be found. Harriet lived here until her death on May 25 of 1900.
The Greek Revival attribution is down to a few simple features on the facade. The primary feature is the subtle recessing of the main block with the corners left to stand proud and create a pilaster. Above this, closing the pediment, the architrave is proud of the wall and pilasters. Add in the tall first story window on the street facade and you have a Greek Revival home. The bricks are laid in a running bond with very tight mortar joints. The quality of the workmanship leads me to think Sewall Chase was the mason.
With Harriet Mark’s death in 1901, 74 St Lawrence Street left the Mark family. It would be 41 years before the property was occupied by its owner. Some of the tenants have been:
- George & Lena Keeble from 1911 to 1926. George was a Portland native having been born to a hack driver turned trader named William & his wife Catherine Foss Keeble in 1851. George married Lena Shannon who was 22 at the time. Lena was born in Quebec and came to Portland as a young girl according to her obituary. They had a 2 daughters and a son. George was a hack driver for Allen’s Transfer for several years before retiring in 1918. He died in 1923 and Lena in 1926.
- Albert & Hattie Austin in 1911 & 1912. The Austins were married in Portland in 1900. Albert was born in Trenton in 1874 and Hattie was born in Portland in 1875. They had a son and a daughter. Albert was a clerk at the Clark-Eddy Company on Preble Street.
George & Maude Means from 1911 to 1931. George was born on a farm in Freeport in 1873. His first wife died in 1905, five years after their marriage. He married Maude Dickson Bagley in 1917. Maude was from Vanceboro where she was born in 1875. It was her 2nd marriage. Her first husband, William Bagley, having died in 1911. Maude had 2 daughters. George worked as a delivery driver for the John P Squire Company on Commercial Street. - Richard & Sarah Smith from 1932 to 1939. The Smiths were Canadian born. Richard in 1870 & Sarah in 1875. Richard came to the US in 1910 and Sarah in 1920. They had married in 1905. There is no evidence of children. George was a janitor at the Thomas Laughlin Company on Fore Street.
In 1906, Isabell Sloman transferred 74 St Lawrence Street to the Ottawa Park Company. The deed included the requirement to maintain a 4′ walkway between 72 & 74 St Lawrence. This is the first time the language appears. The house at 72 had been there since 1882 at least given its appearance on the Moulton map of that year. One wonders why it was added at that time and not on the 6 deeds that preceded it since 1901.
Lewellyn Morse Leighton added our subject to his real estate portfolio in 1908. Leighton died in 1915 at which time his son, Marshall inherited the property. In 1918, he transferred it to his brother-in-law, Josiah Johnson. Johnson had married Florence Leighton in 1904. He ran the family real estate business after Lewellyn’s death. Josiah died in 1928. Florence and their son Richard sold 74 St Lawrence Street in 1936.
74 St Lawrence Street in 1924. Maine Memory Network
In early 1942, an Italian immigrant named Pasquale Bernardo purchased 74 St Lawrence Street. Pasquale came to the US in 1901 and served in the US Army for 10 years. He worked in various roles at the Eastland Hotel, now the Westin, on High Street. Bernardo lived here with his partner Theresa Goodman. Pasquale Bernardo sold our subject in 1966.
Portland Press Herald. October 21, 1963. Newspapers.Com
When 74 St Lawrence Street was sold in 1966, it started a cycle of sales that saw 7 different owners over the next decade. From the 80s forward, ownership was more settled with a the average length running to a decade or so. The current owners purchased the property in 2015.
74 St Lawrence Street is listed as a single family residence. The condition is very good.
Portland House Stories 