The Bath Opera House wasn’t the first time a building came down in Bath to make way for a parking lot. Just a few years earlier another building nearby went from historic to rubble in a matter of days.

Redlon’s Plumbing Supply, located on the corner of Front and Ferry streets, was torn down in January 1968. According to the Coastal Journal’s Jan. 18, 1968 edition, “It took just three days to level the building which took six months to build.”

The building was believed to have been built by James Mulligan some time in the 1830s. Over the years it was occupied by a number of different businesses, including the William H. Swett Grocery and an automotive supply company.

Towards the end of the building’s life, it was occupied by O. M. Redlon and his plumbing and heating supply company.

Redlon’s left the building a year before it was torn down, moving to an area on what was then the Hyde Estate (today Hyde School), where it still is today.

Ferry Street was then discontinued by the City of Bath. Both the street and the plot of land were turned into a parking lot for the new Sampson’s Supermarket and the neighboring A&P Market, now the location of Brackett’s Market.

Ferry Street sits approximately where the southern entrance of the parking lot at Brackett’s Market.

The Sampson building was erected over the next several months, and still stands today. It currently houses the Pine Tree Society, Just Framing, and BAE Systems.

Special thanks to the Patten Free Library’s Sagadahoc History and Genealogy Room for assistance. Early editions of the Coastal Journal are preserved on microfiche and archived at the library.