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Pennellville Historic District
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| Location: | Roughly bounded by Pennellville Rd., Middle Bay Cove, and Pennell Way, Brunswick, Maine |
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| Area: | 130 acres (53 ha) |
| Architectural style: | Greek Revival, Italianate, Federal |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: |
85002923 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | October 10, 1985 |
Pennellville Historic District is a residential district located in the town of Brunswick, Maine (United States of America). It is a historic district, and to locals, it is known simply as "Pennellville." (PEN'-null-vill)
Pennellville is home to several historic mansions built by the Pennell (PEN'-null) family in the 18th and 19th centuries AD. The area was home to the Pennellville shipyard, where the Pennell family built wooden sailing ships for the American shipping trade in the 19th century. The company was known as the Pennell Brothers shipbuilding company. The company was one of the most successful shipbuilding companies in all of America.
The real estate in Pennellville is some of the most desirable in the entire state of Maine. This is due in large part to the fact that many of the properties are ship captains' mansions, with sweeping views of the ocean. For this reason, it is also some of the most expensive real estate in Maine.
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Before white settlers, Pennellville was inhabited by Native Americans. The area was known as Pejepscot at the time, and encompassed the modern day town of Brunswick, Maine. Native Americans left the area by the year 1725 AD, 35 years before the Pennell family arrived. Evidence of their presence can be seen in the arrowheads and piles of discarded shellfish they left behind. Native Americans in the area ate shellfish for survival and discarded the leftover shells.
Pennellville was settled by Thomas Pennell II. He was the first Pennell to arrive in the area. His father, Thomas I, had immigrated from Jersey (in the Channel Islands) around 1708, and settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He married a woman by the name of Sarah Durin, and sired two sons and two daughters. He died in 1723. When his two sons, Thomas II and Clement, came of age, both moved north to Falmouth, Maine (now known as Portland, Maine), around 1735, and purchased land in the Stroudwater area. Thomas II lost this land in 1759 due to a legal encumbrance. As a result he, along with his family, moved to the Brunswick area in 1760. He then built the first house in Pennellville. The original house no longer stands.
Thomas II had five sons. His second son, Thomas III, was born in 1739. Thomas III lived in the Brunswick area, becoming tax collector and was a shipwright in the 1790s. He married Alice Anderson of Freeport, Maine. They had five sons and five daughters. Thomas III taught his sons the shipbuilding trade and together they expanded their shipbuilding activities and merchant shipping business around the turn of the 19th century.
The eldest son of Thomas III was Jacob Pennell, born in 1778. He was the most prosperous of five sons, and he built 20 or more vessels in Middle Bay (the bay upon which Pennellville sits) between 1810 and 1841. He acquired most of the land at Pennellville (land originally owned by his father) by buying the lots that had been divided amongst his brothers. As of 2011, Jacob's house (The Jacob Pennell Mansion) is the oldest house standing in Pennellville.
The Pennell family was most likely building ships in the New World ever since Thomas I arrived from England. The earliest known records show that Jacob Pennell was building wooden ships around 1760. Over the next 114 years (1760–1874) the Pennell family would build in excess of 90 ships in the Pennellville Shipyard, making them one of the wealthiest and most famous shipbuilding families in all of America.
With the wealth acquired from the massively successful shipbuilding business, the Pennell family began building beautiful mansions. Jacob had several sons and, around this time, they christened the company the "Pennell Brothers" shipbuilding company.
Pennellville was soon considered its own community, and eventually three roads in the area would bare the Pennell name: Pennellville Road, Old Pennellville Road, and Pennell Way. Soon the area had its own schoolhouse and signs designating the area as being separate from Brunswick. Another road in Pennellville, Tedesco Way, is named for a Pennell ship. In all, the Pennells built seven mansions in the area between 1760 and 1877. Since 1877, housing development has been relatively sparse, and much of Pennellville remains wooded areas and open fields. However, the area has become somewhat more developed since the 1980s.
While all other Pennells have since sold their properties, one descendant of Thomas I still lived in one of the Pennell mansions as of 2011.
With their new found fortunes, the Pennell family began building mansions along Pennellville Road. They were built in the style of 19th century ship captains' homes, which was massively popular in the time period, and is very distinctive of New England. This style was considered prestigious, and is now an icon of American architecture. The names of the mansions are as follows:
A notable relative of the Pennell family was Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Robert P.T. Coffin, who lived in the Jacob Pennell II Mansion. Coffin wrote the critically acclaimed novel Captain Abby and Captain John, a story about two Pennell ship captains.
The Pennells gained much visibility during their boom period and entertained many famous guests, who often attended ship launchings. Notables who visited Pennellville mansions include such historic figures as Gen. Joshua Chamberlain (Union Officer in the Civil War who was instrumental in the victory at Gettysburg), Helen Keller, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. After the shipbuilding days, Norman Rockwell, Gov. Angus King, and Pulitzer Prize-winner James Michener all visited the Pennellville mansions. Rockwell did extensive research on the Pennell family, and considered using them for a Thanksgiving cover of the Saturday Evening Post.
The Pennell and Brothers shipbuilding company built many of the wooden ships that carried cargoes around the world in the 18th- and 19th-century cargo trade. Sometimes the family would retain ownership of the ships and charge fees for shipping cargoes. Other times, they would simply sell the ship. The ships were either sold in shares, or they would sell 100% of it to a buyer. Pennells were also captains of many of the ships they built. The business operated out of the shipyard located in Pennellville. The site of the yard, including the "ways" from which a ship was launched, was located in the Pennellville bay. The shipyard was moved to three locations in the bay during the operation of the company. The first site was located deep inland, farthest away from the entrance to the ocean. The yard was moved twice after this, getting closer to the open ocean with each move.
It is known with certainty that the Pennell family was building ships in Pennellville by 1760. However, as stated above, the Pennell family was almost definitely building ships in America before the first records of such activities in the 1760s. This is thought to be true because ancestors who pre-date Thomas I (the first Pennell in America) were shipbuilders in England.
The ships carried all sorts of cargoes, among them were: timber, deadstock, wine, guano, salt, and fruit. Often they would also transport people as passengers from port to port for a fee. It is noted, however, that the company was never involved in the American slave trade.
Ships sailed to ports all over the world, and there they traded their cargoes. Included in their routes were ports in England, Italy, California, and China - along with many others. Their shipping routes included the infamous run around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. This route was world-famous for being extremely dangerous. Undaunted, the Pennell family sailed it many times.
The Pennells built many different styles of ships including barques, schooners, sloops, and brigs. The largest ships weighed over 2,800,000 lbs (1,400 tons), while the smallest weighed as little as 90,000 lbs (45 tons). The Benjamin Sewall, the biggest ship ever built by the Pennells, weighed 2,866,000 lbs (1,433 tons). Completed in 1874, it would also prove to be the last ship the Pennells ever built. In 1903 it sank and was lost near Taiwan (known at the time as Formosa).
Although it is not certain what caused the demise of the yard, there are several factors that likely contributed to its decline. By the end of the 19th century, metal-hulled steamships had replaced wooden ships as a means of transporting goods around the world. This was combined with the fact that railroads had also come into their own as a means of shipping. By the end of the 19th century it was faster and safer to ship cargoes by railroad from New York City to San Francisco than it was sail around Cape Horn.
Around this same time, James Pennell (master builder of the Pennell Brothers company) died as a result of an accident that occurred in the shipyard. As James was the last master builder of the Pennell family, his death was probably a major blow to the workings of the yard. By the early 20th century, the shipyard had gone out of business, although left standing were the stately mansions which the Pennell family had built there. To this day, the area is still known as Pennellville. Evidence of the shipyard also still exists. The ways (the wooden ramp down which a ship was pushed in order to be launched) can still be seen sitting in the bay at low tide. Another visible feature of the yard is the hall where the shipyard workers lived, located at the very end of Pennellville Road.
Pennellville is located in the southern portion of Brunswick, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean. Pennellville sits on a cove known as Middle Bay Cove. The greater bay where it sits is known as Middle Bay, which is a part of the larger still Casco Bay.
Although no official boundaries have ever been designated, Pennellville does have a distinct area. The northern boundary of Pennellville is Middle Bay Road; the southern boundary is Middle Bay itself. As Pennellville sits on a peninsula, Middle Bay also forms the eastern boundary, and Simpson's Point Road serves as the western boundary. Properties on Mere Point Road between Middle Bay Road and Simpson's Point Road are not part of Pennellville.
Pennellville is officially part of the town of Brunswick, Maine. All matters of government are subject to Brunswick, Maine's town government. Residents of Pennellville use Brunswick's post office, police department, fire and rescue departments, library, and public school system.
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