Update: Conservation at the MMO

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 18, 2022

Conservation of historic buildings is a slow process. Much of it comes from trying to match the original materials so that we can make sure the conservation work is done properly, that it matches in color, and that it works with what exists. For example, painting latex paint over a lime-based paint: not a good idea. It is not historically accurate but also that latex is not going to adhere to the lime wash properly and at some point, you will have a mess that you are re-doing the right way.


In the case of the Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory, the grout (cement) is very coarse. It’s full of small pebbles and broken pieces of stone (see image). The main dome was built in 1908 and the addition to the right of it was completed in 1922. When I joke that it looks like they went to the beach to make the grout mixture, I am not entirely sure it is a joke!


In any case, this is not something – the lime or this particular grout – that you buy off the shelf. The mason has to make it – match the color, the texture/coarseness, the pebble-like material and colors in it, the mixture. Thus, the amazing island mason, Wayne Morris – who has been working on this project and also did our conservation work at the MMA Research Center – has spent countless hours collecting stones and digging through stones he has in his masonry yard. Once he has a good amount and ones that match what is on the MMO, he pulverizes them to match the size of the pieces found in the existing grout on the building. He actually created a special tool to do this. Because, that’s how he works.



So, now that he has a good supply, he has been focused on the back side of the building dealing with the cracks and places that the grout has spalled and fallen out. He is now attending to the front of the building, thus more staging. Once those areas are dealt with, he will replace the iron lintels above the windows. These have rusted because of water getting in. They will be replaced with steel that will not rust, expand, and then cause cracking. He will also be addressing the “parapets” – rebuilding them where needed – and attending to the copper and the flat room on top of the 1922 addition.


JNLF

 


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Spring Has Sprung!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 27, 2026
And with it, some of the heirloom daffodils I purchased for the Mitchell House last fall. A place was recommended to me by two longtime friends of the MMA and gardeners extraordinaire. It is called Old House Gardens. I ordered a small amount as we now have a plethora of voles on Vestal Street – I believe I complained about them here last year. They won’t eat daffodils so I got a few of “Butter and Eggs” (1777) and “Conspicuus” (1869) as either of these could have appeared in William Mitchell’s gardens. They were not listed in a letter from John Quincy Adams that I have mentioned before. But, Adams was not here visiting the Mitchell family when the daffodils would have been in bloom. The one pictured here is “Butter and Eggs” not completely unfurled. JNLF

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 13, 2026
April 1878. The conference of Woman’s Congress officers met in Washington. Because we had one member in Washington we were invited to meet in that place. I went on at a great expense of time, money and strength . . . . We were in session at least nine hours. I think that more than half of that was used by Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Sayles. The only motion which I carried through was to pay the Secretary $200 . . . In 1878, that was a long train(s) ride to Washington, DC from Poughkeepsie, NY and Vassar College. If Maria seems perturbed, I am sure she was. As president of the Association for the Advancement of Women, and thus the Congress, she had to be at the meeting. But it appears she did not get much say in the nine hour meeting. This was also a long trip to take when she had another, even longer trip coming up in July of 1878. In that month, she would travel with students and her sister, Phebe, out west to Colorado to view the eclipse and that train and wagon ride I am sure was weighing on her mind – not just the physical trip but making her way for an important eclipse viewing event. JNLF

Raise The Roof!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 6, 2026
Well, actually replace the roof! With funding from the Community Preservation Act and the work of Lydon and Sons, Inc. the Mitchell House is getting a new roof. The current one had come to the end of its useful life. A cedar roof can last a long time – longer than asphalt – and is more historically accurate. The roof we are removing was installed in about 1992 – replacing a roof from the 1930s that was not cedar but a combination of materials that actually yes, did last sixty years. The unfortunate issue has arisen that the roofwalk (walk) has to be replaced. This is NOT the original walk – nor that old of a walk. It’s likely from the 1970s or so and has been cobbled at over time. It’s not a functioning walk – no one is allowed on it – but the Mitchell House needs it none the less. Maria Mitchell and her father, William, likely used the walk for astronomical observations – in addition to the yard – but the walk is also protected as part of the preservation easement on the House. Walks – NOT and NEVER called widow’s walks – were used for preventing and putting out chimney fire and roof fires. In a place where wood was expensive and had to be brought from “the main” these were purely utilitarian. What good Quaker (or non-Quaker) would build a platform for his wife to stare out to the harbor to see if her husband was on his way home? The other issue is that the walk was completely resting on the ridge board – and actually was notched to accept the pitch and tip of the ridge board so they couldn’t work around it. I suspect this may have been the ways walks were once built – and also a crafty and smart thinking carpenter who came up with the idea. It makes the walk lower. But between that issue and the age of the walk and then the blizzard of February 2026 that packed gusts over 83 MPH (that’s Category 1 hurricane winds) the walk gave in. Balusters had been knocked out and the railings were loose and pulling away from the posts. So, we will also be working with Barber and Sons to create a new roofwalk – and they agreed to do this for us quickly which is also no small feat given how busy everyone is these days. So from the bottom of the Mitchell House’s heart (and mine) a big thank you to Chris Lydon and Lydon and Sons and crew, Barber and Sons / Beau and Nate Barber, the Community Preservation Committee, and Nantucket Preservation Trust (our easement holder)! JNLF
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