A building Packed With History

Prior to the invention of flash freezing by Gloucester resident Clarence Birdseye in 1924, salt was the primary means by which fish was preserved to ensure freshness during transit from Gloucester to the world. In 1892 the Tarr and Wonson Paint Company, the first U.S. manufacturer of copper paint, which was used on the bottom of boats to prevent marine growth, bought the property as a warehouse for storing copper bottom paint. Tarr & Wonson rebuilt the building and covered the entire structure with stamped steel and the company’s celebrated copper paint. At high tide, sailors could come up to the back door, the original which is still intact, and offload paint onto their vessels.

In 1948 Alden and Mary Bryan purchased the property from Tarr & Wonson and turned it into the Bryan Gallery, which they ran for almost thirty years. In the late 1950s, Alden collaborated with Evie Parsons to open the Rudder Restaurant in the building next door. When Mary Bryan died in 1978, the Bryan Gallery was closed for several years, until some enterprising artists negotiated with Alden to rent the building and reopen it as an artist’s co-operative which eventually became known as Gallery 53 on Rocky Neck.