NEWBURYPORT — Twelve years ago, Jeanette Isabella was tired of living in a place without any history. She sold her house in Miami, Fla., to move into a late 17th century Newburyport home.
"This is the reason I live in Newburyport, the history was always the draw," said Isabella, who works full-time as a life coach on Water Street.
Isabella was one of more than 100 history lovers in attendance at Saturday's premiere of the historic Jacobs Perkins Printing and Engraving building on Fruit Street. The Historical Society of Old Newbury, Cushing House Museum, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the purchase and first phase of restoration of the building, followed by tours and a reception.
"You think you've got the history already gathered," Isabella said. "It's another layer of history."
The ceremony honored all those who donated, including a $200,000 grant from the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank and a $184,500 grant from the Community Preservation Act. Special thanks were also given to James Lagoulis, the previous owner of the building, who decided against turning the historic mint into condominiums.
"This building is not rare, it's unique," said Jay Williamson, the Historical Society of Old Newbury curator, to the crowd. "It's the only one, the only one in the country. We are so proud to have it."
Williamson said he hopes to hire a graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design who specializes in Old World printing techniques. The graduate would give tours, print examples of Perkins' money and be allowed to use the mint as an inspirational space for his or her work.
The mint stands roughly 30 feet high and has an area of 1,875 square feet. The contractors used 6,000 antique bricks and bought beams from Nor'East Architectural Antiques in South Hampton. A Marlboro Street resident donated all of the 1800s-style glass.
"It's just an honor to be a part of it, to follow in the craftsman's footsteps," said Steven MacDonald, one of the contractors.
After the satin green ribbon was cut, event-goers were invited to explore all three floors of the partially furnished mint. On the first floor a plaque detailing Perkins' accomplishments hung on the wall, and visitors could see the original back doors used to keep out thieves. The second floor featured some Perkins' bills and pictures of his inventions, as well as books on the moneymaking process. On the third floor, attendees could look at cases of contemporary engraving tools, and a life-size cutout of the legendary Lord Timothy Dexter, one of Newburyport's most colorful and eccentric 18th century merchants, was propped up against the wall.
Peggy Ghiloni and her husband, who is a coin collector, made the one-hour trip from their home in Londonderry N.H., just for the event.
"These are fantastic examples of Perkins' work," said Ghiloni as she stared in awe at the case of 200-year-old bills.
"They've done an excellent job restoring this," said her husband, Joseph, who owns some Perkins' money. "It's hard to believe that all the people in that picture over there were probably standing here on this floor."
On the tour, event-goers were given the opportunity to speak with Dr. James Haxby, an obsolete bank note expert who knows interesting bits about Perkins, such as he invented a device that could measure the speed of a ship. Following the tour, Haxby gave a free lecture at the Firehouse Center for the Arts on Perkins and the birth of currency in the United States.
"Perkins was first and foremost an inventor," Haxby said. "He liked to tinker."
Also among those in attendance was Bob Keller, who lives in the Perkins' home at 14 Fruit St. He was one of the first to help with the restoration effort and cleared out the belongings from the previous tenant, which included bikes, shutters and pieces of wood.
"We've watched the project from the beginning across our yard," Keller said. "It's a beautiful job."
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