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| Back in the Coast Guard days |
Growing up in Marshfield we lived nearby a mansion on a hill. We knew it as the Coast Guard mansion as it was the property of the U.S. Coast Guard. At that time it wasn't being used. It ran along the end of South River Street and ends at Ferry Street. It was set back on a hill with some trees that were spaced apart enough to be able to see the place on top. It had a driveway that went to the front entrance with it's grand columns. It also had a driveway on the left side leading to the back which a had more utilitarian looking four bay garage.
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| Maintenance garage adjacent to the mansion. |
Being uninhabited at the time so it sparked my curiosity. Peaking in through windows see a bare inside in very good condition. Rich wood center stair case to center walkway that spanned between the two wings of the building. I don't remember seeing much else there. I tried peaking through other windows but wasn't too successful. I was usually wary of Coast Guardsmen that were stationed further in back of the land should they catch me. Doors were locked so entry wasn't attempted beyond a twist of the knob.
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| A peak inside. |
Neighborhood kids used the worn out baseball diamond on the nearby grounds for pick up games of softball during summer. further along the back was a large hill that was used for sledding in the winter months. Of course I participated in both.
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| An aerial view. |
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Opposite aerial view.
At the bottom of the hill was a a simple paved road that led to some smaller more official looking building where the Coast Guard did there business. I actually never remember seeing them there although there were cars there and the official sign at the entrance which was often times the only hint that someone was there. My mother, who also grew up there, remembers seeing Coast Guardsmen there and even got candy from them on Halloween.
I never knew the history behind this so my brief research has turned up some interesting items. The mansion was built for the family of Richard Morris Hunt around 1890. Who is this Hunt? He was a world famous architect of his time. Responsible for the likes of The Metropolitan Opera House, Statue of Liberty Pedestal, "The Breaker's" in Newport, Marble House also in Newport, Rhode Island. It would seem he was the the "go to guy" if you wanted a mansion built in the "Guilded Age". I'm not positive of how much involved he was in building what was called "Seacrest" at the time. It was owned by various members of the Hunt family up until World War 2.
During World War 2 the Federal Government, by use of eminent domain, also like the property too cause of its ocean view originally for enemy submarine spotting. I guess the Coast Guard, needing to beef up it's communications in the area eventually took it over as a communication's station. The mansion was used as a barracks, mess and offices for personnel. A maintenance garage, antennas and other related buildings were also erected. Much of the Trans-Atlantic Radio traffic during the war was directed from here known as call sign "NMF" (aka Radio Boston).
The Coast Guard continued to use the building after the war into the mid 70's when they gradually moved to bases on Cape Cod. The mansion fell into disuse(around the time I was exploring the grounds) for many years. In November of 1999 it was turned over to the town of Marshfi
eld. It was renovated and later sold to private owners in 2008 for $2.8 million.
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| What it looks like today. |
Little did we know about Marshfield's connection to the "Guilded Age" of architecture.
