W. Ray Freden

It is said that ”Good fences make good neighbors”, and  I think there is a lot of room here for discussion .
I grew up without fences on our property or the abutter’s  property.  We had good neighbors……..did they?
Some of the fences I remember served another purpose.
A fence near my back yard ran from Seaview to the South River in South Marshfield.  It was installed by the Railroad c. 1870….. not to keep the Locomotives in, but to keep livestock out!  They were Red Cedar posts with three to four strands of barbed wire. I bet there still are remains between Pinehurst Drive & Ferry St.

Barbed wire fence.

Post and split rail fence

Post and split rail gates and fences could be found all over the town.
The posts were  logs with two or three oval holes drilled through them.  The holes were wide enough for two tapered ends of the split rail to slide into the hole from opposite directions.  The rails could be slid out easily for passing through if it was a gate. They are still widely used.

The guard rails on Summer St. along Keene’s pond and across the street were quite different.  The top rail was set on steel posts, rather unique, and a 4×4 was set into a “v” topped post so the edge, not the flat, was up.
This is the only place I noticed this application……. I expect it was built and installed by the Town of Marshfield Highway Dept.

An unusual corner- edge-up rail fence.

A well built plank-top with a skirt fence.

This next fence I had always admired.  It first caught my attention because of it’s barn red paint job.
This ran from near the intersection of Summer & Elm St., then along Ferry Hill Rd. to Grandview Ave.
I suspect it was installed by Victor Belanger, along his Belangerville property to hold his valuable livestock.  The remains of that fence could be seen into the 1970’s.

The Sea Street bridge guardrail .
Railing  sketch  is not the original guardrail .

This fence, guard rail had to be tough, salt air, sun, ice & snow were its enemy year around. The original wood fencing was replaced by this wood &  pipe guard rail. A 2×6 afixed to the bridge foundation and three galvanized pipes were run through holes in the 2×6’s.

This fence was found along Ferry St. from Sea St. to Ireland Rd.

The below railing ran along Ferry St. from Ridge Rd. , north to the Sea St. Bridge.

The most beautiful fences were the hardest to build, made to last the longest, and unique in every way.  Hundreds of thousand’s of miles of them were built all over the world.  And they are not called fences, but referred to as ”walls”, ”stone walls”, and “field-stone walls”.

A beautiful wall with a  split rail gate.

This wall is on Summer St. ….now obscured by growth.


This wall boarders Ferry Hill Rd.

 No care needed, cannot be destroyed by storms, fire, ice, hurricanes, or whatever Mother Nature throws at them.  Damage, maybe, but they cannot be destroyed!

Another fence of field-stone was around the animal pound on Elm St. opposite Ferry Hill Rd., on the N.E. corner of  Holly Hill.

These Pounds could have had most any kind of fencing around them. Escaped and lost livestock would be rounded up by a good neighbor and locked in a pound to await it’s rightful owner.

 New England stone walls have been built from the beginning of the New World by the Early Settlers.  Many were lost to development, neglect, re-purposed, or stolen to be used to build fireplaces, decorative walls, and entrance-way pillars.

One doesn’t destroy a stone wall…..one just relocates it.  If you start at Summer &  Main St., and travel south, stone walls line both sides. Where stone walls are missing, look close at the foundation of a nearby home.
A good example is from Summer St. and Station St., north,   then traveling south on Summer St., to Station St., south. The wall is missing.  However,  the homes at 189 & 207 Summer St., have field-stone foundations!
No,  not stolen……the walls were part of the  property and simply re-purposed.

189 Summer St.’s  Foundation

”The walls around us bear witness to lives past and present”
Jose Parla

A favorite photo of mine is this view of the Sea View  Village from Hatch’s Hill , ( Holly Hill). Stone walls everywhere— and  they still exist!

W. Ray Freden.
Seaview/ Marshfield,  70 years.

It amazes me how many old buildings, and antique homes are still standing in Sea View.  A few date back to the 1700’s, and many  were built in the early to mid-1800’s.

For now I’ll cover some buildings that no longer exist or are doomed.

272 Summer Street

Photo taken about 1910.

This typical  center-chimney Cape was built about 1780.
The first Littletown/ Sea View post office operated from the front room on the left from 1837 to 1880.
This was the residence of Henry Hatch Little, a descendant  of  Thomas Little, credited founder of Littletown.
During the 1930’s & early ’40’s It was The Little Green Light Tea Room.

It has been condemned due to structural decay.

 October 2020, UPDATE, THE NEW OWNER WILL RESTORE THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURE.  

An original business card in pristine condition.

128 Summer Street

Sketch by W. Ray Freden

This two-story building once stood on the corner of Warren Ave. & Summer St.  and was originally owned by Jedidiah Little.  It was built sometime before 1858. It was a store and boarding house.

Photo was taken c. 1910 looking north.

It was moved to 12 Warren ave. in the late 40’s, maybe early 50’s, and became a residence.

Sea View Post Office

Corner of Capt. Luther Little Way & Summer St. Built by George Currell sometime before 1880.

The building continued to be a general store until the mid-1940’s.
It was remodeled  into  a residence,  burned beyond repair and was demolished in the early 60’s.

The Federal Home

Across from the Post Office is a beautiful Federal brick-end home built by Jedidiah Little (b.1807- d.1882).  The Building to the left was a large Store & Factory built in 1852. The Federal home still remains

Photo taken c. 1910.

From 1865 to 1879, Gardner and Arnold ran a Shoe Shop employing up to 100 employees, followed by J.H. Stetson.  It was one of the first shops to use  shoe sewing machines.
In 1879, George Pecker owned the factory and made shoes until 1882. He  sold  the house, barn and factory to the Donovan family in 1903.   The factory made raincoats for a short time,  and  became vacant from 1920 to 1930.
At some time the above building was reduced in size as seen below with the entrance now on Summer St.

Paintings by W. Ray Freden

This business card was found by Ray in the building in 1951.

The Shoe Shop at 101 Summer St.

The red building in the center is the Shoe Shop at 101 Summer St. After the shoe business moved to Rockland, the building was used for Woodworking by Gould Crosby, making model boats and possibly other wood products in the 1930’s.

The building was torn down in 1951 by Bill Freden & son, Ray, to build a shop from the lumber. The twin front doors from this building are still being used .

91 Summer Street

This small farm house and barn were built by a Stetson who was also a partner in the shoe-making business next door.
William Randall  purchased this 2 1/2-acre property from Fredrick Cornwall in 1891. William was a partner with his brother,  George, and the company was known as Randall Brothers Manufacturing.

The Randall family lived on this property until  1999.

This residence no longer exists.  It was torn down in 1999, and replaced by a new residence.

Gasoline  .07 ¢  @ gallon.

Visible pumps were not the earliest pumps, but were quite interesting. You would pump a handle to fill your desired amount into the glass-visible container.  A scale in gallons was located within the glass.  After the desired amount was reached, you would place the nozzle into your tank, pull the trigger and the fuel would flow by gravity into your tank.

This early gasoline station was located at 91 Summer St. and operated by Charles W. Randall in the early 1900’s.  He discontinued selling gas after the Sea View Garage opened under the new owner Charles Langille sometime after 1919.

Charles (Charlie) Randall in his 1904 Rambler hauling gasoline to his Gas Station at 91 Summer St.
(1904 Rambler photo and research, compliments of Bert O’donnell, Jr.
Also, a special thanks to Janet Peterson, researcher for the many details used in this blog. Thank you.)

“It takes time, or does time – take it?”
Anthony Liccione

I have been recently asked, ”Ray, what would you keep of your past ?”
My first answer was, ” My memory”, which I seem to have & kept”.
Second, ” just about everything I’ve written about, and more to come.”.
Ray.

More to come:
Keene’s Ice House.
Gov. Emery’s Mansion.

W. Ray Freden.  Sea View, 70 years.