After a brief service in the Civil War in 1864, he took up his father's trade in various cities before settling back in Portsmouth. David attended school in Portsmouth until his family moved to Chicago. His father, Ephraim, was an expert willow worker who crafted baskets and furniture. The illustrated booklet took the form of a long rhyming poem, composed, of course, by Urch himself.ĭavid Urch was born in Newport, Wales, on April 14, 1844, and arrived in the United States at age 4. It was a journey, he claimed, unmatched anywhere on the Atlantic coast. Walking the loop from Portsmouth to the "quaint and picturesque" village of New Castle, tourists could see forts, a lighthouse, a sandy beach and a hotel. His occasional fiery "illuminations" of the Sea Aquarium at night, before electric bulbs, were spectacular.įor a few cents more, Urch could provide a delicate printed guide to sites worth seeing. During one special evening, Urch lined tables along the bridge, hired a band for dancing, and set off fireworks. Guests were requested not to molest the fish, while the "disorderly element" was invited to - keep away. Thousands of visitors reportedly showed up each day in season. The newspaper annually praised Major Urch for his ingenuity and hoped his "labor of love" would bring him ample return. The aquarium fish were released or eaten at the end of the summer. Housed in another large tank during the summer, the seals disappeared as quickly as the tourists when released in the fall.
Harbor seals, captured off Cape Elizabeth, exhibited "almost human intelligence" with their antic behavior. As the amusement site expanded, Urch added a "refreshment saloon." His 50-foot tall water slide, known as "shoot-the-chutes" dumped thrill-seekers into the chilly water. The bridges and aquarium required constant upkeep. His audience, he said, might enjoy watching the "fighting qualities" of this "voracious eater." That summer Urch added a "monster" skate to his collection, measuring 4 feet wide by 5 feet long. A railing ran around a large tank alive with cod, pollock, lump, skate, sculpin, a 6-foot sturgeon, scup, hake, butterfly fish, shad, bass, alewives, flounder, crabs, lobsters, starfish, urchins, herring, blueback, shark, ray, poagie, flying fish, sea turtle and more. Another stairway led to a second building measuring 27-feet square. But back in 1878, according to a Portsmouth newspaper, the new aquarium and floating pavilion was "a splendid affair."Ĭomfortable rattan chairs, crafted by the proprietor, were scattered amid a jungle of shrubs, flowering plants and graceful vines.
The tanks were all smashed when an ice jam damaged the bridge in 1918, three years before Urch's death.
Nothing remains of the 8-foot long aquarium tanks that were the heart of Major Urch's Sea Aquarium. Urch also operated his "jitney," a connected set of cars powered by a six-cylinder Studebaker engine that taxied visitors and their luggage from Portsmouth’s train station to the Wentworth Hotel. Urch patented and rented bicycles mounted on large pontoons that allowed patrons to pedal on the Piscataqua River. His "circus-like" roadside attraction featured aquarium tanks, live seals and trained horses that jumped from a platform into the river. Over the years he built up the waterfront property at his toll booth into a strange and wonderful amusement area. "Major" Urch, a title earned for his work in the Odd Fellows fraternal group, put his toll pennies to good use. Urch collected a small fee from anyone crossing to "Great Island" and proudly claimed to manage "the finest mile of toll roadway and bridge in New England." For decades, Urch managed the privately-owned New Castle Bridge, now a causeway at the city's South End. Let us now praise David Urch, Portsmouth's least remembered and most eccentric entrepreneur.
0 kommentar(er)
