Built in 1858 by Isaac Sylvester
A substantial Italianate in the East Deering neighborhood.
If it was built by a shipbuilder, was it built like a ship?
Isaac Sylvester came from Freeport. South Freeport and Porter’s, or Bartol’s, Landing to be exact. The neighborhood was alive with the sounds of ships being built in the 1850s and it was here that Isaac learned his trade. A deed of sale executed just before he bought the land for our subject would seem to point to this house as Isaac & Nancy Sylvester’s home. The buyer was a William G Brewer and his name appears on the 1857 Chace Map in that location.
Back Cove Village card from the 1857 Chace map of Cumberland County. Library of Congress
The Chace map also shows us Isaac’s new house in Back Cove Village. Which is a bit odd. The deed from Peter & Mary Lunt to Isaac Sylvester was dated November 20 of 1857. The Chace map was published in 1857. Did Isaac already build the house before he bought the land? His deed does not include any buildings. A puzzlement to be sure.
What Isaac Sylvester built is a common antebellum Italianate home of 2 stories. The main block is 23′ wide on the street and is 31′ deep. A slightly narrower ell extends another 26′ back. There is a third floor in the garret. Details, as we see them now, are limited to brackets in the eaves and some mouldings in the pediment. The single bay window, although small, was important enough for Isaac to include it in the advertisement when he sold it in 1863.
Portland Daily Press. August 29, 1863. Newspapers.Com
In late March of 1864, Isaac Sylvester sold 32 Veranda Street. He and Nancy moved to East Boston where he worked as a shipwright. He died there in 1883 and Nancy died in 1896. The buyer of our subject home in 1864 was Mary Russell of Pembroke Maine.
Portland Daily Press, October 21, 1863. Newspapers.Com
Mary Childs and George Russell were married in Pembroke in 1847. Mary was 24 and George was 23. George apprenticed in the shipbuilding trade before starting a business with his brothers. They thrived there for over a decade before, at the urging on George’s childhood friend Jacob Winslow, the brothers moved the firm the East Deering. They would build over 40 ships here. Most for the Winslow fleet.
George and Mary Russell had 6 children while living in Pembroke. One died in infancy. The shipbuilding industry was lucrative as seen in the census records showing the Russell’s personal and real estate rising in value regularly. George was active in politics, serving as a delegate to a few Republican conventions and serving for many years on the local school boards and as a surveyor of lumber.
1914 Richards Atlas of Portland. Portland Public Library Digital Commons
By 1900 the Russell Brothers Shipyard had closed as the trade left the area. George died in 1911 and Mary in 1919. 32 Veranda Street was inherited by the children with three of them still here in 1930. In 1943, the last of George & Mary Russell’s children, Martha, died. The following year, 32 Veranda Street was sold to a 31 year old book keeper for a beer distributor named Emily Macisso.
32 Veranda Street in 1924. Maine Memory Network
The entry is well preserved but for the replacement door. The decorations above the door hint at the double doors that once graced the entry. These can be discerned in the 1924 tax photo. The details are quite exuberant and show that the carpenter who built the entry was a skilled carver. I do think the second story of the entry was open originally. What is there now does not match the first floor in the profile of the moldings or the extent of the details. Lastly, and most betraying, is the misalignment of the entablatures and cornice lines between the house and porch. See below.
Emilia, Emily, Macisso was born in Portland to Italian immigrants in 1911. She grew up on Chatham Street and attended Portland Schools. Her father died in 1936 and Emily continued to live with her mother until purchasing our subject in 1944. Her family moved here with her. She married Carmine Pirone in Fort Lauderdale Florida in 1945. Carmine was a native of Italy. When he came to the US is a mystery as is how many children the Pirone’s had. Carmine worked as a mechanic for Cushman’s Bakery.
Cushman Bakery on Elm Street in 1946. Maine Memory Network
Emily & Carmine bought a home on Randall Street, about 6 blocks away, in 1956. In 1957, they rented 32 Veranda Street to Ron & Elizabeth Audette. The Audette’s purchased the house in 1962. The Audettes had married in 1956. Ron was a mason for FW Cunningham before starting his own business. He served as president of the local bricklayers union. They moved to North Yarmouth in 1966 and sold our subject in 1968.
Portland Evening Express. May 29, 1964. Newspapers.Com
32 Veranda Street is listed as a two-family home. The condition is fair.
Portland House Stories 
What a thrill to learn more about the East Deering neighborhood. Thank you. I knew nothing about the shipyard industry there.
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