Nathan Cobb Cottage

Last updated
Nathan Cobb Cottage
Nathan Cobb Cottage - full front view with the Florida Historic Marker - photograph ca. 2021.jpg
Nathan Cobb Cottage - full front view with the Florida Historic Marker – photograph ca. 2021.
USA Florida location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
General information
TypeResidential: Cottage
Architectural style Vernacular architectural style
Location Ormond Beach, Florida
Address137 Orchard Lane
Coordinates 29°28′54″N81°05′57″W / 29.48167°N 81.09917°W / 29.48167; -81.09917
Completed1897
Renovated2014
OwnerOrmond Beach Historical Society
Technical details
Floor area457 square feet (42 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)William Fagen
Awards and prizesFlorida Heritage Landmark

The Nathan Cobb Cottage at 137 Orchand Lane in Ormond Beach, Florida is a half story residential structure that was constructed in 1897 from salvaged cargo and wood parts from the shipwreck of the Nathan F. Cobb schooner. A local man named William Fagen built the cottage in the vernacular architectural style using salvaged cargo and wood parts including railroad ties, flooring, balustrades and stairs. [1] [2]

Contents

Nathan F. Cobb shipwreck

On December 1, 1896, the Nathan F. Cobb schooner was heavily damaged by a nor’easter storm off the coast of North Carolina and lost two crewmen. The ship then drifted for about four days until it ran aground on a sandbar off the coast of Ormond (now Ormond Beach). While attempting to rescue the six surviving crewmen a local Ormond Hotel employee named Freeman Waterhouse drowned. The six crewmen were eventually rescued, however, the ship never sailed again and remained marooned off the coast of Ormond. Its cargo and most of its wooden parts were salvaged. Now more than 120 years later, some remnants of the ship’s hull are occasionally visible after ocean waves disturb the area’s sandbars. [3] [4]

Original configuration

Nathan Cobb Cottage originally included an outer kitchen structure and dog-trot - photograph ca. 1900. Cobb Cottage.jpg
Nathan Cobb Cottage originally included an outer kitchen structure and dog-trot – photograph ca. 1900.

Originally, the Nathan Cobb Cottage included a wood outer kitchen structure that was connected to the cottage by a dog-trot (breezeway). All of these structures were built from pieces of salvaged wood from the Nathan F. Cobb schooner. The wood outer kitchen structure and dog-trot were removed in the 1920s most likely due to wood rot. The roof originally had wood shake shingles and a gable dormer window, however, they were removed and replaced with a composite shingle roof around 1965. The brick chimney and fireplace are original. [5] The interior originally had two bedrooms on the top half story level and heart pine floor boards extended the length of the cottage. The south bedroom was removed in 1955, which created a vaulted ceiling above the living room.


The front of the cottage originally featured a full length wood deck porch that was built from pieces of the ship’s sole (floor). Salvaged pieces of ship balustrades served as railings for the porch. In the 1940s, the porch was removed due to wood rot and a portion of it around the front door was replaced with bricks. In the 1990s, a full length brick porch was installed. Around 1955, an eight-foot section of the south side of the cottage structure was removed most likely due to wood rot. A section of the ship's quarter board that has the Nathan F. Cobb name carved into it was originally located on the exterior of the south wall, but was moved inside and hung on the south side wall of the living room. [6]

Alterations and current configuration

After standing for more than 120 years the cottage has undergone several alterations. The cottage currently stands on brick pier supports and has a rectangular floor plan that measures 23’ by 17’. The kitchen projects from the northeastern side and measures 6’ by 11’, which makes the structure 457 square feet. The original exterior walls are constructed from vertically positioned railroad ties, but are now mostly covered with cedar shake siding. [7] [8] The dining room includes a small closet and the original wood staircase that leads to the bedroom on the upper half story. A bathroom was added on to the east side of the dining room in 1955, and in 2014 it was upgraded with a modern shower, toilet and sink. The 6’ by 11’ kitchen is actually a part of the original dog-trot, and in 2014 it was upgraded with a modern sink, wood pine flooring and new appliances. An exterior wood porch deck measuring 12’ by 12’ was built onto the rear of the cottage in 2014. [9]

Florida Heritage Landmark

In May 2021, the Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation approved a Florida Historical Marker for the Nathan Cobb Cottage, which also signifies that it is a Florida Heritage Landmark. The marker was installed in front of the cottage on November 17, 2021. [10] The Florida Historical Marker reads:

The Nathan Cobb Cottage is a rare historic home built using local traditions and cultural practices in the frame vernacular style, and is one of the last standing structures erected from salvaged ship lumber and wood freight in Florida. It was built in 1897 by William Fagen using railroad ties for its walls from the wreck of the schooner Nathan F. Cobb. The ship capsized during a nor’easter storm off the coast of North Carolina which drowned two of her crewmen. It then drifted for 375 miles until it ran aground off the coast of Ormond (now Ormond Beach) on December 5, 1896. During a rescue attempt to save the surviving six crewmen, Freeman Waterhouse, a bookkeeper for the Ormond Hotel, drowned, his body never recovered. It originally included a dog-trot, detached kitchen structure, wood plank front porch with ship balustrade railing, exposed railroad ties on its exterior walls and a wood shake shingle roof with two dormer windows. An indoor kitchen, bathroom and electricity were added which modernized the cottage. It is unlikely that such a building will be constructed again since wood schooners have not been built since the 1920s, and almost all have been decommissioned and salvaged decades ago.

A FLORIDA HERITAGE SITE
SPONSORED BY THE ORMOND BEACH HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE
2021

Legacy

The Nathan Cobb Cottage is one of Volusia County, Florida's most iconic surviving historic landmarks, and stands as an excellent example of vernacular craftsmanship from the late nineteenth century. It is one of the last standing buildings in Florida that was constructed from salvaged schooner ship wood parts and cargo.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ormond Beach, Florida</span> City in Volusia County, Florida, US

Ormond Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is known as the birthplace of speed, as early adopters of motorized cars flocked to its hard-packed beaches for yearlong entertainment, since paved roads were not yet commonplace. Ormond Beach lies in Central Eastern Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ormond-by-the-Sea, Florida</span> CDP in Florida, United States

Ormond-by-the-Sea is a census-designated place and an unincorporated town in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,430 as of the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipwreck</span> Physical remains of a beached or sunk ship

A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately three million shipwrecks worldwide as of January 1999, according to Angela Croome, a science writer and author who specialized in the history of underwater archaeology.

<i>The Daytona Beach News-Journal</i> Newspaper in Florida

The Daytona Beach News-Journal is a Florida daily newspaper serving Volusia and Flagler Counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halifax River</span> River in Florida, United States

The Halifax River is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, located in northeast Volusia County, Florida. The waterway was originally known as the North Mosquito River, but was renamed after George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, during the British occupation of Florida (1763–1784).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lofthus (shipwreck)</span> United States historic place

The Lofthus is a Norwegian shipwreck near Boynton Beach, Florida, United States. Built in 1868 in Sunderland, England by T.R. Oswald, the 222-foot iron-hulled vessel was originally christened Cashmere and rigged as a three masted barque. She was painted with false gunports to ward off Sumatran and Javanese pirates. After a career in the East Indian trade Cashmere was sold to a Norwegian firm, renamed Lofthus, and used in the American trade. On February 4, 1898, the Lofthaus wrecked in a storm en route to Buenos Aires, Argentina from Pensacola, Florida. The crew of 16 men, as well as the ship's cat and dog were rescued by the passing vessel Three Friends, which was smuggling guns to Cuba. The ship, however, was declared a loss as it could not be removed from the shallow reef. The cargo, primarily lumber, was salvaged and brought ashore by locals and reportedly used to build homes in the Boynton Beach area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ormond Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Ormond Hotel was a historic hotel in Ormond Beach, Florida, United States. It was located at 15 East Granada Boulevard.

<i>Madeira</i> (ship) Barge that sank in Lake Superior in 1905

Madeira was a schooner barge that sank off the coast of Minnesota in Lake Superior on November 28, 1905. A schooner barge is a type of ship that functions like a barge, in that it is towed by a steamship, but also has sails like a schooner. This type of ship evolved from wooden sailing ships that were cut down into barges and towed behind wooden steamships, a practice which originated in the late 1880s in coastal areas. This design was commonly used in the Great Lakes for transporting grain, iron ore, and other products.

SS <i>Commodore</i> Wrecked American steamboat

SS Commodore was an American steamboat that was wrecked off the coast of Florida on 2 January 1897, while en route to Cuba. The event was immortalized when passenger and author Stephen Crane, who was traveling as a war correspondent for the Bacheller-Johnson syndicate, wrote the classic short story "The Open Boat" about his experience.

<i>Nathan F. Cobb</i> 19th-century American schooner

The Nathan F. Cobb was a three-masted schooner named after the shipbuilder and founder of Cobb's Salvaging Company whose many rescues of stranded ships help lead to the formation of the United States Life-Saving Service. Despite its namesake's history of shipwreck rescues, the Nathan F. Cobb capsized in heavy seas on 1 December 1896 en route from Brunswick, Georgia to New York with a cargo of timber and cross ties. The cook and a shipmate drowned when they were swept overboard in violent seas. The crew righted the vessel by removing the three masts and they drifted for four days until they became grounded on a sandbar off Ormond Beach, Florida. Rescue attempts led to the drowning of volunteer Fred Waterhouse, whose body was never recovered, but no other crew members were lost. A plaque commemorates Fred Waterhouse's rescue efforts. The Cobb Cottage, a structure built using materials salvaged from the ship, is part of Ormond Beach's Historic Trail.

Amaryllis was a cargo ship built in 1945 at Burrard Dry Dock in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was 441.6 feet (134.6 m) long and measured 7,147 gross register tons. Originally named Cromwell Park, she was built for the government of Canada to be used in World War II. In 1946 she was sold to Canadian Transportation Co. Ltd. which renamed her the Harmac Vancouver. In 1948, she was sold to Greek shipowner Kydoniefs, renamed the Amaryllis and registered in Panama. In 1965, she ran aground during Hurricane Betsy off the coast of Florida and was later sunk offshore as an artificial reef at 26°47′17″N80°00′58″W.

Wave was a brig that was wrecked in 1848 at Cheynes Beach near Cape Riche, Western Australia.

<i>Kyle Spangler</i> (schooner) Shipwreck Site Shipwreck

The Kyle Spangler was a wooden schooner; its 1860 wreck site in Lake Huron was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

<i>Joseph S. Fay Shipwreck Site</i> United States historic place

The Joseph S. Fay was a wooden steamer built in 1871 Quayle and Martin at Cleveland, Ohio. At the time of launch, the Fay was the largest ship ever built in Cleveland.

SS <i>Australasia</i> Defunct wooden-hulled American Great Lakes freighter

The Australasia was a wooden-hulled American Great Lakes freighter that served on the Great Lakes of North America between her construction in 1884 to her burning and sinking in 1896. On October 18, 1896, while loaded with coal, the Australasia sank in Lake Michigan near the town of Sevastopol, Door County, Wisconsin, United States, after burning off Cana Island. On July 3, 2013, the wreck of the Australasia was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Grape Shot is a shipwreck located off the coast of Plum Island, Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holden House</span> United States historic place

The Holden House, located at 204 E. Moody Blvd., Bunnell, Florida, was built in 1918 by Samuel Merwin Bortree (1859–1918) as a wedding gift for his daughter Ethel Lura Bortree Holden (1892–1977), and her husband Thomas Edward Holden (1892–1974). It is an excellent example of the Craftsman Bungalow architectural style. The house was purchased by Flagler County for $40,000 on August 6, 1979 from a Holden family member. It is now a museum that features artifacts from Flagler County and the general Florida area dating from the St. Johns Culture to the present. It is also the headquarters for the Flagler County Historical Society. The house's upstairs bathroom was one of the first indoor bathrooms in the Bunnell area and features unique small hexagon tiles on the floor which were similar to the flooring design used in the original owner's pharmacy building which is no longer extant and was located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Moody Boulevard and U.S. 1 in Bunnell. The Holden House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 16, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daring (schooner)</span> 19th c. New Zealand schooner

Daring was a 17-metre (55'8") schooner, launched on 1 September 1863 in Mangawhai, New Zealand. It was wrecked twice, once in 1864, and again in 1865. Daring's wreck was excavated in December 2018 after being exposed by shifting sands.

References

  1. Rubenstein, Arthur. Cobb House history saved. "Daytona Beach News-Journal". January 22, 1998, pp. 4, 14.
  2. City Vicinity History: Historic Landmarks. Located at: Ormond Beach Historical Landmarks records. Ormond Beach Historical Society.
  3. How the Nathan Cobb Came to our Beach. "Daytona Beach News-Journal". November 11, 1956.
  4. Schooner Goes Ashore. "Weekly Transcript – Little Falls, Minnesota". December 11, 1896, p. 5.
  5. Hebel, Ianthe Bond. Historic Homes Along the Halifax: Cottage Built from Wreck. "Daytona Beach News-Journal". March 29, 1964, p. 8B.
  6. Stanton, John F. The Story of the Wreck. 1955. Located at: Nathan Cobb records. "Ormond Beach Historical Society".
  7. Graham, Chris. Ormond ‘Boat House’ – Cottage built with shipwreck lumber finds new life. "Daytona Beach News-Journal". May 24, 2014, pp. 1C-2C.
  8. Parente, Audrey. Making History Again: New Owner Aims to Restore Old Cobb House. "Daytona Beach News-Journal". March 29, 2001, pp. 1, 7.
  9. Ormond Beach man saves historic cottage. "Ormond Beach Observer". May 29, 2014, pp. 1, 2.
  10. Lane, Mark. Cobb Cottage, made from the bones of shipwreck, gets a marker. "Daytona Beach News-Journal". December 6, 2021.