Today, Holt’s historic building, originally known as the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary, stands on one of the most historically important parcels of land in the United States of America, known to Portland Maine locals as Bramhall Square.
This building was originally designed by an architect by the name of John Calvin Stevens in 1886. It has recently been renovated and converted into luxury apartments and offices. This renovation is viewed 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 lasted for almost 100 years. There is a large sign on the edge of the parking lot at the Bramhall Fire Station, found on a couple of buildings on Congress St., that tells of the hanging of Thomas Bird, which took place on June 25, 1790. It is the hearing of the first federally ordered execution 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, none had been ordered by the American judge until then.
The gallows was built by an American martial by the name of Henry Dearborn, for the soul purpose of hanging Thomas Bird. Bird had previously been captured a few miles away off Cape Elizabeth, and convicted of the crime of murdering his captain while at sea off the coast of Africa. At the time, the new US government was increasingly concerned about maritime law. In his efforts to coordinate a public performance where nearly 3,000 people witnessed the hanging, Dearborn spent the tax money on the construction of the gallows and a coffin.
Much information is available on Henry Dearborn, who later became a United States Congressman and Secretary of Defense during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, as well as being a general in the Revolutionary War. There is little available about Thomas Bird or the events of the hanging. And looking around Bramhall Square today, you would never know that it is a bloodstained land.