After serving in Korea as a radar and sonar technician aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, Al Crouse took advantage of the G.I. Bill, became a licensed electrician, married his high school sweetheart, Marie, and in 1959 left the Charleston Navy Yard for a position at Western Electric’s new, North Andover plant. The commute from Everett was hard, so Al and Marie borrowed a few dollars from family to make the down payment on their $10,600 house in Haverhill’s Riverside section.
“We had to move fast,” Marie explains. “The real estate agent told us they were putting in I-495 and that would change prices.” The house needed some work—a tin bathtub and slate sink, for examples, though with the benefit of hindsight Al wishes they had kept those features intact.
Flash forward forty-six years: Al and Marie still happily occupy the same house. Their two sons and two daughters attended Haverhill’s public schools. Marie proudly points out that all the Crouse children became educators, at the elementary, high school, or college levels.
Al and Marie Crouse knew early what many Hillies have learned: Haverhill may be the best-kept secret in Massachusetts. They point with pride at neighbors and friends who, like them, have occupied their well-kept homes for more than forty years. In Haverhill the word “community” means more than “near by.” People care.
When Marie first came to Haverhill she looked forward to having room to stretch, though she feared she would miss the easy access to Boston shopping. But the Crouses soon learned that downtown Haverhill on a Friday night “was mobbed” with shoppers at Mitchell’s, Sears and Roebuck, and Woolworth’s. The big stores have moved to malls across the state line, but downtown Haverhill still boasts any number of specialty shops, and Wingate Street is enjoying a revival that features a half dozen art galleries behind tall windows in renovated, brick buildings. Under what still seem to be the original gas lamps, the west end once crowded with shoe factories is now crowded with fine restaurants; come weekends, music rocks Haverhill in so many venues that a battle of the bands is planned come spring 2007.
Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill - photo by Kevin Harkins
But back when Al and Marie were raising their family, Marie enjoyed walking with the kids on the wooded paths surrounding the town reservoir, taking them to the playground at Winnekenni Castle, and attending the free shows at the Haverhill Public Library. Talk about stability! Those resources are still in town, and all have been improved. Marie and Al laugh when they recall their kids’ delight the day a mime named Tom Bergeron performed at the library and entered to take a huge pratfall.
Both regret the loss of Bradford College, which closed its doors after 197 years in May 2000. “Summer theater there was wonderful,” Marie recalls. Al and Marie agree the best change in Haverhill has been the library’s renovation; Al smiles when he recollects the old librarians who clucked disapproval the day he borrowed John Updike’s new, racy novel, Couples.
Haverhill Reservoir
Acknowledging that civic planning is challenging, Al and Marie would like to see Little River, which feeds into the Merrimack River and now runs underground, to be uncovered. With their civic pride and long memories, let’s hope the city’s planners pay heed to Al and Marie Crouse.
Remembrances
Marie & Al Crouse - photo by Perry Glasser
After serving in Korea as a radar and sonar technician aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, Al Crouse took advantage of the G.I. Bill, became a licensed electrician, married his high school sweetheart, Marie, and in 1959 left the Charleston Navy Yard for a position at Western Electric’s new, North Andover plant. The commute from Everett was hard, so Al and Marie borrowed a few dollars from family to make the down payment on their $10,600 house in Haverhill’s Riverside section.
“We had to move fast,” Marie explains. “The real estate agent told us they were putting in I-495 and that would change prices.” The house needed some work—a tin bathtub and slate sink, for examples, though with the benefit of hindsight Al wishes they had kept those features intact.
Flash forward forty-six years: Al and Marie still happily occupy the same house. Their two sons and two daughters attended Haverhill’s public schools. Marie proudly points out that all the Crouse children became educators, at the elementary, high school, or college levels.
Al and Marie Crouse knew early what many Hillies have learned: Haverhill may be the best-kept secret in Massachusetts. They point with pride at neighbors and friends who, like them, have occupied their well-kept homes for more than forty years. In Haverhill the word “community” means more than “near by.” People care.
When Marie first came to Haverhill she looked forward to having room to stretch, though she feared she would miss the easy access to Boston shopping. But the Crouses soon learned that downtown Haverhill on a Friday night “was mobbed” with shoppers at Mitchell’s, Sears and Roebuck, and Woolworth’s. The big stores have moved to malls across the state line, but downtown Haverhill still boasts any number of specialty shops, and Wingate Street is enjoying a revival that features a half dozen art galleries behind tall windows in renovated, brick buildings. Under what still seem to be the original gas lamps, the west end once crowded with shoe factories is now crowded with fine restaurants; come weekends, music rocks Haverhill in so many venues that a battle of the bands is planned come spring 2007.
Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill - photo by Kevin Harkins
But back when Al and Marie were raising their family, Marie enjoyed walking with the kids on the wooded paths surrounding the town reservoir, taking them to the playground at Winnekenni Castle, and attending the free shows at the Haverhill Public Library. Talk about stability! Those resources are still in town, and all have been improved. Marie and Al laugh when they recall their kids’ delight the day a mime named Tom Bergeron performed at the library and entered to take a huge pratfall.
Both regret the loss of Bradford College, which closed its doors after 197 years in May 2000. “Summer theater there was wonderful,” Marie recalls. Al and Marie agree the best change in Haverhill has been the library’s renovation; Al smiles when he recollects the old librarians who clucked disapproval the day he borrowed John Updike’s new, racy novel, Couples.
Haverhill Reservoir
Acknowledging that civic planning is challenging, Al and Marie would like to see Little River, which feeds into the Merrimack River and now runs underground, to be uncovered. With their civic pride and long memories, let’s hope the city’s planners pay heed to Al and Marie Crouse.