The continuing evolution of 54 Main St.
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
The following article was originally

published in The Nantucket Independent on March 1, 2006. From the time it was built following The Great Fire of 1846 to when Henry Mitchell and Mary Allen Havemeyer bought it in 1967, the modest brick structure at 54 Main St. held many different businesses.

BEFORE BOOKS, THERE WAS FASHION

When the Havemeyers purchased the property for $47,500 its occupant was Fitzpatrick's, a haberdashery whose owner's business was declining. But old photographs in files at the Nantucket Historical Association Research Library show that one of the first shops at the corner of Main and Orange streets belonged to Henry P. Olin, though no records were found explaining what was sold there.

Subsequently, the building, which is separate from, but shares a facade with 50 Main St., housed John Harps & Co., a grocer, who appears to have traded places in the fall of 1887 with Rothenberg Brothers, which sold men's, boys' and children's clothing and was formerly on the opposite side of Main Street.

A Nantucket directory lists H. P. Brown & Co. at that address in 1897, selling ladies' bathing suits from $1.50 to $5, men's two-piece swim suits from 75 cents to $3, rainy-day skirts, French flannel waists and sewing patterns. A 1900 ad states that "It takes something better than buncombe [which may be a version of the modern word bunco, meaning a scheme] to gain and retain the confidence of a community." H.P. Brown remained at number 54 in directories until at least 1909.

In the 1927 "Lothrop's Blue Book and Directory," E. A. Lawrence & Co., a dry goods and clothing establishment was named at the corner location serving "...the leading families of the island as well as the Summer cottagers and hotel guests." In 1912, Stuart the Tailor inhabited the upper floor over Lawrence & Co., which has been a one-bedroom apartment since the Havemeyers bought the building.

No architectural surveys on the structure appear in historic records, so the designer, builder and features of the building are unknown other than that it has a full basement and second story, and measures between 850 and 900 square-feet of retail area on the ground floor.

THE HAVEMEYER ERA BEGINS

Mary "Mimi" Havemeyer Beman has run the bookstore with help from her husband Dwight since her mother died in 1978. She tells the story of how what was mainly a clothing store of sorts for about 120 years became the island's hub for literature - and lots of quirky fun.

Though her father was not an island native by birthright, he was decended from the famous Mitchell family. Beman's father was born in New York City, named Henry Mitchell Havemeyer after William Mitchell's son, Henry. William was his greatgrandfather and father to astronomer Maria Mitchell.

Havemeyer was a graphic artist in New York City. The family had been summering on Nantucket since the 1950s, renting assorted houses until they bought a home in 1962. Beman's father was determined to retire on the island because of his family roots, and at that point, there was no local bookstore, Beman recalled.

Beman's maternal uncle was president of the Doubleday Book Company, and so once it was decided the family would start an island bookstore, Mimi and her mother went to work for Doubleday to gain experience - Mimi at a Doubleday location on Fifth Avenue and her mother at a Scarsdale branch. Her parents' choice to switch careers was, at that time, unusual, said Beman.

"In the '60s people didn't change careers as easily as now," she said. "It was a big decision. It was a bold move in those days."

Nevertheless, the Havemeyer couple broke out of their generational mode and opened Mitchell's Book Corner in June 1968. The couple offered much more to the community than just a good book store. They engaged a Doubleday architect to design the store layout, including a browsing room in a back section with a table and chairs where people could sit and read from a collection of the family's library. In the winter, the Havemeyers served coffee and hot cocoa to those readers.

They used the shop windows to display various items of local interest, doled out humor and some personal insights through Mitch's famous ads, and invited youths and the general public to spend time and celebrate with them whenever a good excuse arose.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION From top: View of a branch of The Boston Store at 54 Main Street (now Mitchell's), offering dry and fancy goods for sale, with a group of women and two children posed in front. Most likely, several of the women are employees of the store. Note the Nantucket Employment Society is located next door. Parade, possibly for Fourth of July or Veterans' Day on Main Street, 1920s. Shop signs visible: Lunch Modern Fruits, Dry Goods at 54 Main. View of the south side of Main Street from the Pacific Bank to the Pacific Club, 1960s. Two men are in the middle of the street - left is unidentified, right is Dr. Will Gardner. Signs for stores include: Fitzpatricks (now Mitchell's), Congdon and Coleman, Universal Photo Shop.

THE CHANCELLOR AND OTHER QUIRKS

Shortly after the store opened, Beman's father learned that an old dolphin had washed up off Woods Hole. He acquired it and had its skeleton mounted in the store, naming it the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The fish bones still hang above shelves of fiction, whereas other features, such as a rudimentary weather station that occupied an entire wall and a section of records the late Terry Sylvia was in charge of buying when he was a teenager, have passed on.

Mitch's advertisements have been compiled in a book and describe several occurrences the family and island population found entertaining. One of the earliest was called "We Caught Nine Scallops," in which Havemeyer described an unsuccessful attempt at family scalloping. His daughter said after the ad was published her parents came home to find scalloping equipment in their hallway and scallops on the kitchen table.

In January 1969, Havemeyer wrote about the Orange Street Irregulars, focused around a group of teens that had taken a liking to the browsing room. The couple started a ceremony involving youths buying books and being dubbed as a "Sir" with a samurai sword placed above their heads by "Queen Mary Allen."

The fish skeleton was also subject of an ad called "Huge Dolphin Enters Bookstore," wherein Havemeyer said his wife was insistent that the shop was not a branch of the Whaling Museum and actually sought employment elsewhere without success. A bit later, the Earl of Tuckernuck, a striped bass skeleton, was added to the store. In another of Havemeyer's humorous ads, he said the Chancellor had argued to no avail for a female dolphin. The Earl has been gone for some time; however, no one faults the Chancellor for its disappearance.

Additionally, every June 28, the Havemeyers hosted a birthday party for the store with miniature cupcakes and punch. Beman said that tradition lasted about 10 years during the 1970s until the store became too busy to allow such an event.

Beman's father died in 1975. Her mother continued to run the store until her death in 1978, not learning until late in life that she, too, was decended from island roots - the Roche family - and was actually a fifth cousin of her husband.

MITCHELL'S AS MICROCOSM

"Whether it was helping Princess Grace of Monaco - my mother needed smelling salts - or watching a woman going into labor or babysitting a pet monkey, Mitchell's and running it has always been about more than book selling and a truly unforgettable journey spanning four decades. There are many traditions in that spot," said Beman.

And while she is selling the building in part because she is ready to retire, Beman mentioned other factors that influenced her decision.

"The change in the business really reflects the change in Nantucket. It's a microcosm," she said. "I have watched all the changes from [the store] being a mom and pop place to a flourishing business in the 1990s to now, wondering if there is a place in the community for a business like that."

Despite the evolution that has occurred at 54 Main St. since the mid- 1800s, one thing has remained constant - save for its tremendous growth - the stately, impressive elm at the corner. It was slender and not much taller than the building when Henry P. Olin was occupant. That tree now sprouts thick girths of branches above a massive trunk and chair-sized depressions between the roots inviting children to sit in its shade and perhaps

read a book from Mitchell's. I