Broad House [Photo, 1980s]
Descriptive Object
Identifier:
OBJ.N.1985.7
Description
Photo from the 1980s of the house on the corner of Willow and Main Streets. The lot it is on is listed as lot #7 on the Eben Steward map of 1832, at which point the lot was owned by one Benjamin L. Gilpatrick. In 1835, it is owned by Henry R. Soper, who sold it to Horace Broad on May 29, 1835. Broad subsequently sells half the lot to the Bangor, Piscataquis Canal and Rail Road on April 7, 1836 and then sells the other half on May 17 to Samuel D. Hasty. Since there is no mention of buildings in the deed when Broad acquired the lot and there is when he sold it, it seems likely that Broad erected the brick house to turn a quick buck. This matches with what little else we know about his life: Horace Broad (1807-1858) was born in Albion where he also married his wife Maria(h). They then lived in Old Town in the 1830s (where three of their children were born). From 1836 through 1837, Broad and his family lived in Forksville (aka The Forks), now Haynesville along the military road from Bangor to Houlton. By 1838 until at least 1840, they lived in Houlton. By 1847, the family lived in Portland, at which time Broad was listed in the City Directory as a mason. By the time of his death, he was living in Dedham, MA, where he worked as a contractor.