Today, the historic Holt Building, originally known as the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary, stands on one of the most historically significant sites in the United States of America, known to Portland Maine locals as Bramhall Square.
This building was originally designed by an architect named John Calvin Stevens in the year 1886. It has recently been renovated into luxury apartments and offices. This renovation is seen as the successful preservation of a historic building by the Maine Historic Preservation Society, as the external features of this beautiful brick and granite structure have been kept intact.
Before construction of the infirmary could begin, a task had to be completed. This task was the removal of the gallows that had stood for almost 100 years. There is a large sign at the edge of the parking lot for the Bramhall Fire Station, which is located a couple of buildings down on Congress St., that tells of the hanging of Thomas Bird, which took place on June 25, 1790. It is the first federally ordered execution hearing in the history of the United States of America. Although others had been executed during colonial times, for crimes ranging from murder, rape, robbery and witchcraft, until then none had been ordered by an American judge.
The gallows was built by an American martial by the name of Henry Dearborn, for the purpose of hanging Thomas Bird. Bird had previously been captured a few miles away at Cape Elizabeth and convicted of the crime of murdering his captain while at sea off the coast of Africa. At this time, the new US government was becoming increasingly concerned with maritime law. In his efforts to stage a public spectacle where nearly 3,000 people witnessed the hanging, Dearborn spent tax money building the gallows and a coffin.
There is a lot of information available about Henry Dearborn, who later became a US Congressman and Secretary of Defense under President Thomas Jefferson, as well as being a general in the Revolutionary War. Little is available about Thomas Bird or the events of the hanging. And looking around Bramhall Square today, you’d never know it’s a bloodstained land.