By Kate Burch
William Hoit (1799-1888) was a prolific builder on Munjoy Hill in the first half of the 19th century. He is responsible for building at least a dozen homes between 1845-1852, mostly in the Greek Revival Style that was prevalent at the time. Many of his homes are located on the southwestern slope of the hill, overlooking the former Portland Company complex and the former Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad yard.
Hoit was a minor stockholder in the railroad company. He purchased a number of lots 1845-1847 from Eliphalet Clark, a partner with Moses Gould in the subdivision and development of Munjoy Hill in the mid 19th century. At least three, possibly five, dwellings on Monument Street are known to have been built by Hoit. He also built dwellings on Atlantic Street, St. Lawrence Street and Congress Street. His eldest sons, including William H. Hoit, were also carpenters and joiners. William Sr. moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota sometime before 1857 with his wife and six youngest children, James, Thomas, Ann, Johanna, and Emily. He continued to work as a builder in Minneapolis along with sons James and Thomas.
44 Monument Street
Josiah W. Smith House (1845)
Josiah W Smith bought the land at 44 Monument St from William Hoit in 1846, ‘together with the dwelling house and outhouses standing thereon.’ Smith sold the 2 ½ story wood framed Greek Revival dwelling house in 1850. Smith was a stone cutter. It believed he is the Josiah W Smith (1819-1857) buried in Evergreen Cemetery. He died young of consumption, a common ailment for his profession.
48 Monument Street
Godfrey Mark House (1845)
Godfrey Mark (1807-1878) was an immigrant from Switzerland. He arrived in Portland in 1828 at age 20 with his parents and siblings on the Globe. Godfrey and his father Gabriel worked as a cutler in their knife repair business G&G Mark’s on Exchange Street, later on Pearl Street. He bought the 2 ½ story Greek Revival dwelling on Monument Street from William Hoit in 1845 and sold it in 1867.
52 Monument Street
Wealthy Hallett House (c. 1850), probably built by William Hoit
Wealthy D. Hallett purchased the property in 1852. Born in 1817, Wealthy D. Hallett married her first husband, Daniel at age 17, and then moved to Boston. She divorced Daniel in 1849. She remarried in 1855 to Cuban born Audrias Cederbloom, but retained her name as Mrs. W. D. Hallett. She sold the property to Benjamin Hallett in 1859 and his heirs sold it in 1864 to James Knowlton, a patternmaker and foreman in the pattern shop at the Portland Company.
Other Munjoy Hill buildings attributed to William Hoit:
83 St. Lawrence Street, c1847
87 St. Lawrence Street, c1852
86 Congress Street, 1851
104 Congress Street, 1845-1847
17 Atlantic Street, c1845
He is also believed to have built 23 Atlantic Street circa 1846, 26 Monument Street circa 1850, and may be the builder of 51 Monument Street. His son William H. Hoit is responsible for the move and reconstruction of an early cape at 62 Munjoy Street, circa 1857.