Early Morning Victorians Of Centreville Maryland
Finding My Way & A Late Winter Journey To A Historic Eastern Shore Town
Prologue — being that this essay is the first that I have published on Medium, at least under the G Gibson Photo Art moniker, I wish to offer a sort of rationale for presenting, at least in this case, what might appear to be subjective descriptive recollections from my experiences taking photographs of three Victorian era residences on Maryland’s Easter Shore, as opposed to presenting it in a more eloquent literary way on the subject at hand.
Simply put for years I have traveled throughout Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region photographing the people, places and scenery found here in the land of pleasant living. During this time I have become enamored with its natural beauty, the people of its communities, its diversity of architecture that abounds here, and its rich history that goes back to the early settlements in America. While there are aspects of these interests of mine that are perhaps not everyone’s cup of Earl Grey I have come to find that those who have expressed their enjoyment when perusing through my photographs over the years also comment how much the accompanying words that I pen along with each one further enhances their own visual experience.
So while every picture may tell a story perhaps there are times when the words that may accompany them serves to enhance the detail of the picture itself as the audience views it for the very first time. For years I have been doing such on my blogs and websites yet in small incremental steps and now I seek a way that will allow me to grow further as a realism style photographer who today succinctly captions his images to perhaps that of a photo artist who uses his own words drawn from his location experiences to further enhance the visual aspects of the photograph itself.
If you do elect to read further, either in this piece or the ones that I have been developing in my mind that I hope to publish in the near future, please understand that for now I am simply trying to find my way.
A few weeks ago I traveled to Queen Anne's County Maryland on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, specifically to the sleepy historic town of Centreville, early one morning in order to photograph a group of grand late 19th century Victorian era residences that I have been an admirer of for years. Even though Winter would soon give way to Spring my past recollections of one of those Victorian homes was that the front of it tended to be partially obscured during the warmer months of the year by the nearby foliage. It was for this reason that I have tended to shy away from taking photographs of all three residences at the same time for I wanted to capture as many of the exterior architectural elements of them as I could and then present all three together in one article which is why that I found myself in Centreville Maryland on a late Winter morning.
In any event here are those three Victorian residences, a troika if you would, of Centreville Maryland.
This is the Jackson Collins House in historic Centreville Maryland, circa 1886-87, as seen early on a late Winter morning that has been referred to as representing one of the finest examples of American Victorian period architecture found in Queen Anne’s County Maryland today. It is believed that a Mr. Aaron Arlett began construction on this residence in the mid to latter part of the 1880's but never finished it for it was soon purchased by a Centreville businessman named John W. Perry. While the subject of historical speculation it has been alluded to that Mr. Arlett lacked the financial resources to complete his project hence Mr. Perry's purchase of the house for $3,262 during this same period.
Certainly stately looking with its pressed brick facade and wide porch with Tuscan columns that in turn adds to the distinctive mass of the structure one sees from the sidewalk. Note the almost over-sized center turret and gable windows on both the front and right sides of the residence. Notice the two story bay window element set over an inviting open porch area extension along the side of the house as well that is not normally found on Victorian era Eastern Shore residences. While Victorian by designation the residence also incorporates Queen Anne and Italianate architectural elements as well. It can be said that the Jackson Collins House overall contribution to the nearby streetscape is certainly more than just significant.
Fronted by an ornate cast iron fence, not wrought iron as thought by some, the Harper House, circa late 1880’s, in Centreville Maryland also represents the Victorian School of Architecture which was perhaps used to denote the original owner’s economic status in the community. As I later found out the house was built by a Mr. Robert M. Price the owner of a successful local lumber company of the day.
While its relationship to the overall lot size makes it appear smaller than that of its Victorian neighbors looks can be deceiving as attested to by a large rear extension to the residence. Noteworthy architectural elements of the Harper House include elaborate turrets, decorative millwork trim and stained glass transoms on each of its eight front windows as well as an Eastlake style porch with turned columns that speaks to the level of detail used in its construction. More recent renovations by its owners have included the more gilded like color period accents that can be seen on the Harper House today.
The third member of this architectural troika of Victorian style residences is the Wright House built in 1893 by Walter & Sarah Wright. It is of interest to note that the house remained in the Wright family until the late 1950's.
Considered to be one of the largest Victorian residences in the county it features curved exterior walls, multiple turrets and gables that serve to make for a most irregular looking roof line while a vast expanse of windows set across its front facade is certainly a distinctive architectural element used in the design of this home. Grander in mass than its immediate neighbor this Centreville residence features a running board 1st story exterior while the second is covered in fish scale siding and each of the roof projections set above it are covered in slate. Finally the first story porch roof is sheathed in metal while the detailed millwork found on its supporting columns and railings make for a most intricate design detail to say the least.
Let us all hope that these three exquisite Victorian residences will continue to hold positions of historic architectural prominence along this Centreville Maryland street for many years to come.
G J Gibson
Note: this piece was first published on the G Gibson Photo Art Gallery Journal Tuesday March 20th, 2014 and an abridged version of it is posted on Tumblr
Images and Article Copyright ©2014 G J Gibson Photography
