If you looked out onto Marblehead Harbor 110 years ago, you might have seen an airplane gliding across the ocean for takeoff. From 1909 to 1918, Marblehead was home to The Burgess Company. Founded by William Starling Burgess (1878-1947), who had already made a name for himself designing and constructing yachts in Marblehead, the company built over 40 models of airplanes during its nine years of operation, both for private individuals and governments. Many of these were seaplanes, designed to take off and land on water. Company pilots often tested the aircraft in Marblehead Harbor, as well as at Hathaway’s Farm in town.
The company’s original offices and (so-called) Factory No. 1 sat on Redstone Lane, off Gregory Street. With the outbreak of World War I, The Burgess Company was called upon first by the Royal Navy Air Service and U.S. military to design and produce aircraft for the war effort. In 1916, the company expanded operations into a second factory (No. 2) built at Little Harbor, off Orne Street. In 1918 alone, the company churned out over 450 Model N-9 planes for the U.S. Navy, at one point averaging 15 per week.
It is said that The Burgess Company, at its height, employed over 800 people in its Marblehead factories. One employee was 20-year-old Mary Decosta Briggs, who was born in 1898 and spent her childhood on Orne Street. Mary’s uniform cap, with the handwritten note “Burges [sic] Plant 1918” inscribed on it, now resides in the museum’s collection — a reminder of the local men and women who built airplanes here in town at the dawning of the industry.
On the evening of Nov. 7, 1918, a fire tore through Factory No. 1, destroying it in only 30 minutes. Despite efforts to carry on operations, the armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, which ended World War I, also effectively put an end to The Burgess Company. Within days, government officials ended production and the company was forced to lay off the majority of its employees. The business never recovered and soon the sight of airplanes in Marblehead Harbor was but a memory.
For an extensive collection of photographs of the Burgess factories and aircraft, please visit the Marblehead Museum’s online collections database: marblehead.pastperfectonline.com/.
Lauren McCormack is executive director of the Marblehead Museum. “From the Vault” is a partnership between the Marblehead Museum and the Marblehead Current.
