(1889)
A. T. Williams Coal Houses.
Many shoreline buildings were associated with the enormous enterprise of Union Wharf, but two of the largest were these one-story coal houses, operated by Andrew T. Williams (1836-1920). The plate from the 1889 Sanborn map gives a sense of how large they were. Williams did a thriving business. He was described in an 1890 article in the United States Commercial Recorder as a “dealer in ship chandlery [ship’s supplies], cordage [cords, ropes, rigging], groceries, flour, coal, wood, paints, oils, &c.” “His store is recognized as the headquarters for all these goods, and the stock from which to select comprises everything likely to be required by vessels on their voyages.”
¶ Last updated on 26 August 2018. ¶ Sanborn Fire Insurance Map From Provincetown, Barnstable County, Massachusetts (1889). Library of Congress Geography and Map Division. Digital ID g3764pm.g038261889.
For further reading online
—
“A. T. Williams,” United States Commercial Recorder, 6 December 1890 (reprinted in The Provincetown Advocate, 2 February 1956). Scrapbooks of Althea Boxell, Book 9, Page 13. Dowd Collection, Provincetown History Preservation Project, Page 2238.
Grave site in Provincetown
—
Williams, Andrew. Find a Grave Memorial 51360972.