Marion (Old Rochester) is one of the oldest towns in the United States, and the Sippican Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of documentation on its historic buildings. In 1998, the Sippican Historical Society commissioned an architectural survey of Marion’s historic homes and buildings. Over 100 were cataloged and photographed. SHS will feature one building a week so that the residents of Marion can understand more about its unique historical architecture.
This week we feature The Moorings, which is situated at the tip of Converse Point, the southernmost of the two necks that shelter Marion’s Sippican Harbor. Converse Point was formerly called Charles Neck and was a Native American campground for centuries before the English settlement of Marion in 1679. This Colonial Revival-style home was built in the mid-1920s to replace the much larger late-19th-century Shingle-style Moorings estate that had 40 rooms.
The first Moorings was built in 1890 for Harry E. Converse, who was an heir of Elisha Converse. The founder of a rubber products industry in Malden during the 1850s, Elisha Converse manufactured rubber shoes that were in great demand worldwide. Harry E. Converse was an important local philanthropist who funded many causes, including Marion’s fire department.
