Jeremiah Lee’s Brick Kitchen & Slave Quarters

157 Washington Street (adjacent to the Lee Mansion)

Most people look right past this unassuming building, unaware of the significant role it has played in Marblehead’s history. Prior to Lee’s purchase of the property, the house of Dr. George Jackson occupied the site. In 1766, while Jeremiah Lee began construction on his colossal mansion next door, he also began construction of this building that was designed to serve, according to contemporary deeds, as a “Brick Kitchen.” The famed diarist Ashley Bowen “parceled,” or waterproofed, the roof. Marblehead lore, dating back to the 19th century, also identifies the building as Lee’s “slave quarters,” only the third extant detached slave quarters owned by a museum in New England. Indeed, the building likely served as the hub of domestic labor (both hired and enslaved) in the Lee household. It was a site for laundry, summer cooking, and baking for the family, as well as other domestic work. After Lee’s death, Marblehead Bank eventually purchased the property. The Brick Kitchen became a West India goods store and then Frank Brown’s grocery. In the early 1900s, the second floor housed the town's original Mugford Hall and then the first exhibit of the young Marblehead Historical Society, now Marblehead Museum. In 1914, the prolific photographer, Fred Litchman purchased the building and turned it into his studio and shop. The building eventually became the beloved Litchman-Orne Print Shop.

Thanks to our generous donor, Standley Goodwin, and the help of Pat Lausier and National Grand Bank, the Museum purchased this building in April 2021.

Over the next few years, we will be studying, restoring, and interpreting the building and its history. For more information or to get involved, please email info@marbleheadmuseum.org.

OUR VISION

Study, preserve, protect, and interpret the Brick Kitchen (157 Washington Street) of the Jeremiah Lee Estate in order to share with visitors and students a glimpse into the lives and experiences of those living and working on an 18th-century Georgian estate while highlighting Marblehead’s Colonial history.

Celebrate the hard-working businesspeople, laborers, and volunteer firemen who served the Marblehead community from the headquarters of 157 Washington Street throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

THE OPPORTUNITY

With the acquisition of Jeremiah Lee’s Brick Kitchen & Slave Quarters, the Marblehead Museum becomes one of only two New England historic house museums to own the extant detached building that housed a kitchen and slave quarters. Now Marblehead Museum has a unique opportunity to reveal an often-untold story about both its White and Black residents. In turn, we will be able to develop a more in-depth and accurate understanding of Marblehead’s role within the broader context of 18th century Massachusetts, America, and the Atlantic World.

The 2nd floor of the Brick Kitchen & Slave Quarters will store the Museum’s rich archival materials in a safe and climate-controlled environment. This space will provide staff, volunteers, and scholars with a state-of-the art home for research and exploration.

IMAGINE!

• A recreated Kitchen space that encourages visitors to immerse themselves in Marblehead’s diverse past.
• A rotating exhibit space that can be used to share stories Marblehead’s history of innovation, courage, and spirit.
• A reproduced colonial landscape between the Kitchen and Mansion, featuring the cobbled driveway and an 18th-century Kitchen Garden where school children and the visitors can discover Colonial-era foodstuffs and home remedies.
• An enhanced experience of the Lee estate that encompasses the Kitchen & Slave Quarters, Mansion, and landscape to tell the story of Marblehead’s Colonial and Revolutionary history.
• A 2nd-floor Reading Room and Archive in which visitors from all over the globe and down the street can discover new historical insights from the Museum’s collections.

By fulfilling these goals, we will elevate the status of Marblehead Museum as a heritage site of local, regional, and national importance. We will positively influence other heritage sites, which will look to us as an example of sharing a local history that is complete and truthful, contextualizing the past in order to better understand the present and plan for the future.