With all the talk about the 19-odd wharfs of Newburyport, you would have thought someone would have brought up one of our City’s great contributions, the Newburyport Bollard.
Now a bollard is a short, thick post on the deck of a ship but more often on a wharf, to which a ship’s rope may be secured. A bollard located on the ship are often called the Knighthead. The knighthead, rising just within the stem in a ship, on either side of the bowsprit, is used to secure its end. Today’s recreational boaters use them on ship and dock all the time and they come in a small rope clinging version.
On much larger ships and ship docks, these come in a variety of forms but most often with a bulbous shape.
Interestingly enough, the term bollard came to be used right around 1775 and is derived from the Middle English word for tree trunk, a ‘Bole’.
The Newburyport Bollard was an improvement in which cannon were up-ended and seated into the wharf. The cannon opening would keep its cap. These caps were used to keep the bore dry and to protect the gunpowder from becoming damp.
The issue arose after the War of 1812. The Town of Newburyport was awash with small ten-pounders. With Privateering largely outlawed diplomatically; there was no need for these. Someone in town struck on a genious idea of placing them around the edges of the wharves with a cap on top. Firmly seated into the ground, they became ideal for roping in ships.
If you look at the design, you will notice that the top is just like the cap on the top of a cannon. The Newburyport bollard appears as a stout beam in which ships of all sizes could securely be tied to.
For added genius, a large rod was thrust into the upturned cannon and voila! You now have a lamppost. These were then strategically placed around downtown and at Market Square. See here for more details!
We can actually see around town Newburyport bollards just as they were used during the heyday of our port. The best use of them has been at the Bartlett Mall and at the intersection of State and High.
You would think the original use of the bollards was long gone but now they have been re-introduced in multiple designs all over the country as traffic guards to direct automobiles and to protect delicate things such as buildings and pedestrians.
But I think the most exciting thing about the Newburyport-style is that it was resurrected to protect ATM terminals by the Bank of America financial empire.