The photo on the left shows the old Brackett Block in 1974, just prior to being razed during the urban renewal project. The building was also known as the LaFond Block, after a dry goods store that occupied the first floor for many years. This old building was once part of the Underground Railroad that helped runaway slaves flee into Canada during the Civil War. Mr. Brackett, along with John Brown, the railway station agent, Capt. Isaac Quimby and the Rev. H.J. Bradbury, the Universalist pastor, all helped the fleeing slaves. The building was constructed in 1850 by Sewall Brackett and attached to a brick house located behind it at 15 Brackett St. That house was built in 1820 by Zachariah Brackett for his sons, Sewall and Carpenter Brackett, with bricks from his Prides Corner brick yard.

The site is now occupied by a single-story commercial building that housed the Men’s Shop until it went out of business. Southern Maine Physical Therapy presently occupies part of the building. Brackett Street no longer connects to Main Street, as the section between Main Street and William Clarke Drive was closed off during urban renewal

Research and photos courtesy Mike Sanphy