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SALEM HISTORIC DISTRICT STUDY COMMITTEE INVESTIGATION
VOLUME II
Historic District East
Prepared by Elizabeth K. Reardon
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HISTORIC DISTRICT EAST
ANDREW STREET Page 1
South Side # ' s 4 - 30
North Side # ' s 9 - 35
BENTLEY STREET Page 6
East Side # ' s 3 - 19
West Side # ' s 2 - 16
BRIDGE STREET Page 10
South Side # ' s 159 - 121
BRIGGS STREET Page 17
South Side #4
North Side # ' s 13 - 33
BROWN STREET Page 21
North Side # ' s 2 - 18
South Side # ' s 1 - 23
BROWN STREET COURT Page 26
East Side # ' s 4 - 6
West Side (no buildings)
CARLTON STREET Page 27
East Side #' s 1 - 33
West Side # ' s 6 - 28
e
CURTIS STREET Page 35
West Side # ' s 4 - 14
East 'Side # ' s 3 - 11
DANIELS STREET Page 39
East Side # ' s 1 - 45
West Side # ' s 2 - 40
DANIELS STREET COURT Page 50
West Side # ' s 2 - 4
East Side # ' s 1 - 9
DERBY STREET Page 57
North Side # ' s 222 - #98
South Side Central Wharf- #97
ESSEX STREET Page �68
South Side # ' s 33 - 131
North Side #' s 502 - 134
FORRESTER STREET Page 87
East Side #1
West Side # ' s 2 - 4
HARDY STREET Page 90
East Side # ' s 3 - 29
West Side # ' s 4 - 26
_ 1
HISTORIC DISTRICT EAST
HAWTHORNE BOULEVARD Page 98
West Side # ' s 2 - 12
East Side # ' s 1 - 33
HERBERT STREET Page 103
East Side # ' s 5 - 27
West Side # ' s 4 - 26
HODGES COURT Page 109
East Side # ' s 5 - 9
West Side # ' s 2 - 12
HOWARD STREET Page 111
West Side #' s 1 - 29
East Side #' s 2 ,- 42
KIMBALL COURT Page 116
#2
KOSCIUSKO STREET Page 117
East Side # ' s 9 - 21
West Side # ' s 6 - 22
MALL STREET Page 121
West Side # ' s 1 - 23
East Side # ' s 6 - 20
MILK STREET Page 126
West Side # ' s 2 - 8
East Side # ' s 1 - 7
OLIVER STREET Page 128
East Side # ' s 2 - 22
West Side # ' s 5 - 23
ORANGE STREET Page 133
East Side #' s 3 - 7
PALFREY COURT Page 135
East Side # ' s 6 - 14
PARKER COURT Page 137
# ' s 1 - 4
PICKMAN STREET Page 138
North Side #' s 3 - 27
South Side # ' s 2 - 24
PLEASANT STREET Page 146
West Side # ' s 8 - 34
East Side #' s 15 - 35
SALEM COMMON Page 153
SPRING STREET Page 158
South Side # ' s 16 - 20
r
HISTORIC DISTRICT EAST
ST. PETER STREET Page 160
East Side # ' s 24 - 50
TURNER STREET Page 165
East Side # • s 1 - 57
West Side # ' s 4 - 54
UNION STREET Page 179
West Side # ' s 4 - 40
East Side # • s 7 - 43
WASHINGTON SQUARE Page 185
WASHINGTON SQUARE EAST Page 186
# • s 70 - 98
WASHINGTON SQUARE NORTH Page 196
# ' s 19 - 45
WASHINGTON SQUARE SOUTH Page 204
# ' s 32 - 62
WASHINGTON SQUARE WEST Page 207
#• s 13 and 18
WEBB STREET Page 210
West Side # • s 75 - 89
WHITE STREET Page 212
West Side
WILLIAMS STREET Page 214
West Side # ' s 3 - 33
East Side # ' s 8 - 30
WINTER STREET Page 222
West Side #' s 2 - 26
East Side # ' s 1 - 23
The following is a summary of the type of houses and
ratings of structures in District East:
17th Century 6 Ratings: ONE 84
(1651-1725)
TWO 290
Pre-Federal 49
(1720-1790) THREE 149
Federal 194 UNRATED 11
(1790-1830)
Greek Revival 68
(1830-1850)
Third Quarter 65
(1850-1875)
Fourth Quarter 71
(1875-1900)
Colonial Revival 5
Indeterminate 32
Miscellaneous 39
L
ANDREW STREET--From Common to Webb Street
Benjamin F. Browne in an article in the Essex Institute Historical
Collections said that the land now Andrew Street was first owned by
Captain Joseph Gardner.who was slain fighting the Narragansett Indians
in 1675 . It was then sold to Joseph Andrew 7whose grandson sold it
about 1780 to William Browne who had a tannery here until 1802 when
he opened up Andrew Street and sold house lots. Mr. Browne mentions
that when he was young, water came up to Milk Street occasionally
and that there was a spring east of the street and a stone wall at the
end of it by Collins Cove (Webb Street did not exist then) .
SOUTH SIDE (even numbers)
#4 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This small square, one-story wooden house with its bracketed. French
roof may have been a carriage house at one time. Its location in
connection with the house on the Common and its stone foundation suggest
this as a possibility.
#6 Andrew Street. RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story, oblong, end-to-the-street, wooden, hip roof house with
doorway typical of the Federal period is similar to one or two others `
on Andrew Street. Architecturally it is still intact. It was built by
William Ropes and was one of the first houses on the street.
#8 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Siding over the clapboards and a pediment supported by metal braces
conceal the Federal characteristics of this house. Under the pediment,
the front door is framed by pilasters and a fanlight. Evidently the
house was built by Captain Samuel Masury. According to B. F. Browne,
this house was plastered on the outside at first--an innovation in
Salem at that time--but the plaster did not stand up and was removed,
being replaced with clapboards .
I .
ANDREW STREET SOUTH SIDE (even numbers) continued
#10 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story, square, hip roof building has had ells added on both
sides. The main portion of the building still has its six-over-six
windows, narrow clapboards on each end, and doorway with pilasters, a
fanlight and broken pediment above. It was built by Perley Putnam.
#12 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
A lovely Federal front door with a small semicircular blind over the
fanlight and elongated, reeded pilasters werethe chief indications that
this house was built about 1800, until siding was installed recently
hiding these details. This seems to have been the first house on the
street, and if so, it was built by John Clark, a carpenter.
#14 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The nicest exterior detail of this house is its carved cornice. It is a
two-story, wooden building with pitch roof and a typical simple Federal
period front door over which modern elements have been placed. Modern
siding covers the clapboards.
#16-18 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story, square, wooden, hip- roof building has a favored Federal
style front entrance with a fanlight surmounted by a modillioned pediment.
(This style was taken by American builders from a Builders ' Guide,by
William Paine of England; an American edition of his book was printed in
1792 . ) Trim around the side door and a bay window are later additions .
#20 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is an excellent example of the typical Ismall two-story, wooden
dwelling with gambrel roof and simple pilastered front door. There is a
t,=:o-story ell beyond the hose and a small pitch roof shed in the yard.
#22 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL
A pair of elongated columns support the roof of the portico of
2. (continued)
ANDREW STREET, SOUTH SIDE (even numbers) continued
this two-story, brick house (Flemish bond) with a brick cornice and
typical Federal front entrance with fanlight. According to B. F. Browne ' s
recollections, it was built by Loammi Coburn.
#24 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
This is a typical long, narrow, wooden, gable-end-to-the-street, two-
story house with dormer windows and a simple front door. Modern siding
covers clapboards .
#26 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
A gable-end-to-the-street building with modillion blocks under the eaves
and quoined corners , this wooden house has two stories plus a pitch roof.
#30 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: ITALIANATE.
This house is a puzzle. From the exterior appearance it appears to have
been built after 1850; however, Mr. Browne in two articles in the Essex
Institute Historical Collections says the ell was moved to this location
from the corner of Central and Essex Streets when the present Central
Street building was erected in 1850 . He also says that it was the
residence of the Browne family who laid out Andrew Street. Benjamin
Browne was a mariner during the Revolution and was confined in Mill Prison
in Plymouth, England. Has the original house been torn down and replaced, ,
or has the house been modernized in the past?
ANDREW STREET, NORTH SIDE (odd numbers)
#9 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Once upon a time this was probably a typical three-story, hip roof house.
A large rear addition and small ell on one side were added, probably
at the same time that the front entrance was altered. Since that time,
undoubtedly, shingles have been added, hiding the original clapboards . In
short, the house has been much remodeled. According to Mr. Browne ' s
recollections, this house, if identified correctly, was originally on
Curtis street and moved in 1802 . It was later sold to Captain Benjamin
3 (continued)
ANDREW STREET NORTH SIDE (odd numbers) continued
Babbidge, who went to sea in 1811 and was never heard from again.
According to Browne, it originally had a flat roof, covered with "tar,
paper and gravel, but it did not keep out the water. "
#11 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
A typical Federal period front doorway with reeded pilasters and a
row of large balls under the portico cornice identify this two-story ,
pitch roof wooden house as being of the Federal period. Wide siding
has been added.
Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
At the end of a driveway between #11 and #13 Andrew Street there is a
small wooden, two-and-one-half-story "half house" with a pitch roof
and small addition in the rear. The . "hal£ house" style is generally pre-
Federal; however, this example has a higher brick foundation than is
customary for this period. Perhaps it was moved to this location and
set on a new foundation.
#13 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL
No additions or alterations mar this two-story, pitch-roof, end-to-the
street wooden house. Its front door in the yard has good Doric
columns supporting the portico.
THIRD QUARTER
#15 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: (ITALIANATE)
Evidently this two-story gable-end-to-the-street dwelling with rusti-
cated wooden facade replaced an earlier house and penny shop which \
Mr. Browne speaks of in his recollections .
#17 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL. ,
According to Mr. Browne, this building was formerly Horton ' s seedhouse
and was moved here in the early 1800 ' s and converted. Dr. Benjamin
Kittridge lived here at one time, and a John Pellett of Connecticut
taught school in one room in 1807. Despite changes, traces of the Federal
period remain, as evidenced by the elongated pilasters and eliptical
4 (continued)
ANDREW STREET NORTH SIDE (odd numbers) continued
fanlight which framethe front door.
MILK STREET BEGINS
#19 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The addition of a bay window over the front door and of two-colored
shingles over the clapboards tend to make it hard to recognize that this
is a house of the Federal period.
#21 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This long, narrow, gambrel-roof, end-to-the-street house with its simple
cornice and typical pilastered door is a good example of a simple Federal
house.
#23 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This house has a fine Federal period cornice. It is a long, narrow,
wooden gambrel-roofed house; siding and changes around the front door
tend to disguise the Federal character of the house.
#25 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD:THIRD QUARTER
(Italianate)
A large, two-story, Mansard roof, dormer windowed house with decorative
slates on the roof and oblong two-story bays on either side of the
board front doorway — this is a good example of this period of architecture.
#29 Andrew Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD : THIRD QUARTER.
This two-story, matched board, gable-end-to-the-street house has
brackets under the eaves which indicate that it was built during the
Italianate period. It has not suffered from exterior architectural
remodeling.
#33-35 Andrew Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: GOTHIC.
The style of the gables and dormer windows of this house indicate the
Gothic period, circa 1840; however, the addition of a bay window and other
small ells here and there make it hard to identify its age by style
and period.
5•
BENTLEY STREET
Bentley Street is the newest of those covered in the Historic District
East portion of this survey. However, it has had a partial existence since
1682 when Isaac Meachum reserved a passageway ten feet wide to a lot of land
he owned, which was back from Essex Street. This way continued to exist until
Bentley Street was continued to Derby Street. It was accepted as a street
by the City of Salem in 1846. The development of the street was apparently
slow. The 1874 Atlas only shows four houses on the west side and two on the
east side of the street. Wooden picket fences in front of many of the houses
are a pleasing aspect of Bentley Street.
BENTLEY STREET - EAST SIDE
There is no #1 Bentley Street
#3 Bentley Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
a
It is impossible to determine the history of this two-story plus nearly
flat-roofed, small wooden house . The roof may have been raised and the
building has no discernible style.
#5 Bentley Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL
This minute building, which is # 5 Bentley Street on the modern city
atlas, appears actually to have been a tool shed or workshop in the yard
of #6 Hardy Street. It is a one-story plus pitch roof, wooden structure
with a window and door on its south side.
#7-9 Bentley Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This two-story, flat roofed, brick industrial building appears to have some
age. The end on Bentley Street has three sets of segmental brick arches
each of which tops a pair of windows . South of the building there is a
wooden addition.
#11 Bentley Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is a typical three-story . flat roofed ,wooden, multiple family dwelling
of the type that has housed so many New England families during the last
seventy-five years . It has a recessed front entrance on the street and
simple brackets, which suggest that it is older than the building across the
street from it .
6.
BENTLEY STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
There are no numbers 13 or 15 Bentley Street.
#17 Bentley Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This small one-story plus pitch roo£'rwooden house is L-shaped and has its
gable end on the street. The entrance in the side yard has a pedimented
portico, which is not a typical characteristic of the simple Greek Revival
period house. The house has two large dormers projecting from the roof.
#19 Bentley Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL (?)
This small wooden building is actually two structuresjoined together; that
nearest the .street is a one-story plus gambrel roof structure covered
with shingles . Beyond it there is a small two-story plus pitch roof
shingled building. The house appears to be only one room wide. Both the
chimneys are of recent vintage. The proportions of the gambrel roof are not
typical of Salem. Undoubtedly, tourists wandering in this neighborhood
consider this a quaint house.
BENTLEY STREET - WEST SIDE
#2 Bentley Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This small Italianate wooden (siding) house has one story plus a pitch
roof and is gable end to the street. In a typical fashion for a house of
this size and style, the entrance with its ornate trim of consoles hand-
somely carved with pineapples is on the gable end and is balanced by a one-
story bay window. The house has wide overhanging eaves and a moderately
high foundation. It was probably built in the yard of the house on the
corner of Essex Street.
#4 Bentley Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two—story plus gambrel roof house is gable end to the street. It is
covered with clapboards, close to the ground and only one room wide -
a typical simple house of the Federal period. The facade faces south and
has seven bays arranged as follows: two windows, one simple pilastered
entrance, two windows, a smaller entry, and then one window. Beyond the
original end of the house a modern two-story addition has been made. The
house has several dormer windows, and at least one of its original Federal
70
YA • • � f I
BENTLEY STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
style chimneys . The pilastered entrance trim was probably installed about
1830 .
#6 Bentley Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This three-story plus flat roofed wooden house was made to house many
family units and is like many of its age and purpose. It has a three-window,
three-story high bow on the street end, and three-story piazzas attached to
the back of the building.
#8 Bentley Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This is a large two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house with its gable end
on the street . It is in the Italianate style and is trimmed with paired
brackets, heavy overhanging eaves and a two-story high bay window beside
the entrance on the gable end.
#10 Bentley Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a two-story plus gambrel roof,,wooden house with its narrow end on
the street; the outline of the gambrel is accented by a molded wooden
strip . The e,itrance, which is recessed and trimmed with simple pilasters
in the Greek Revival style, is a modification which probably dates from
about 1830 . The square chimney suggests that the house may even precede
the Federal period. Beyond the house there is an addition to it of
relatively rece,,t vintage.
#102 Bentley Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
In the yard of #10 Bentley Street, and very close to it, there is a typical
three-story wooden multiple-family dwelling with typical piazzas, a flat
roof and projecting bay.
#12 Bentley Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof house is gable end to the street and faces
south. The facade has three bays, a central entrance and window on either
side. The trim on the pilasters on either side of the doorway is Greek
Revival in style, and a modern canopy has been added over the entrance .
8.
BENTLEY STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
This house has a square chimney, picket fence and lilacs in the yard, all
of which add to its old flavor.
#14 Bentley Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
No. 14 Bentley Street is a multiple-family wooden dwelling with two stories
plus a flat roof. It has its narrow end on the street and extends back in
the yard quite a distance . Piazzas break up the middle of the long expanse
of the north side of the house .
#16 Bentley Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This two-story plus pitch roof house facing Bentley Street is covered
with shingles and a storm porch, which hides the recessed entrance. Its
style and period are not easy to define; it could conceivably date from
the 1830 ' s, but it is probably much more recent. The 1874 Atlas shows
an outbuilding rather than a house on this approximate location.
9•
BRIDGE STREET
Bridge Street is one of the longest streets in Salem today and
also one of the oldest, hence it has a long history, although most of
the visual signs of its earliest days have long since disappeared.
Only a short portion of the street is included in this survey, but
we. will attempt to give a few brief glimpses of the history of the
area around the street.
Perley wrote that the street is one of the oldest in Salem,.,since
it was the way to the Cape Ann side ferry which was operating by
1636; other early Salem historians believe that Conant and his small
band of Old Planters first settled on the banks of the North River on
land sheltered by Horton ' s Point, which is the land at the end of
March Street. The land east of Bridge Street near the Beverly Bridge
was supposedly the planter ' s marsh where grasses were cut for
thatched roofs, and it has been said that Lady Arbella Johnson was
buried near the marsh on a site Dr. Holyoke used to say was marked
by a brick tower. The old Skerry house, now much modified, still
stands on the banks of the North River where it was built during the
1600 ' s . Other early settlers having houses near the ferry were
Symonds, Massey and Marston - the las%,where the Woodbridge house
stands on the corner of March Street.
The street itself was known as Ferry Lane until the late 1700 ' s
and was evidently not as straight as it is today. The original route
to the ferry was by the Common, through Winter Street to Ferry Lane.
The street did not then continue much beyond Winter Street, and as
late as 1820 Bridge Street stopped at Mall Street because further
inland the North River came up over the present Bridge Street.
Browne referred to the river bank in this area as Guppy ' s bank and
wrote of a fine spring of water near the northern wall of the jail.
It seems hard to believe that during the War of 1812 British prisoners
10.
BRIDGE STREET (continued)
of war were kept on a prison ship tied up to Rust ' s wharf at the
bottom of Rust Street. The low-lying portions of Bridge Street
beyond Winter Street to St. Peter Street are on made land filled in
after 1820 and were . known as Forrester Street in 1840 . (Perley
does believe there was originally a way all along the bank of the
North River which fell into disuse after Federal Street was laid
out. ) Most of the earliest made land in Salem is in the vicinity of
the railroad lines which seem to have been constructed over water
originally, after which the water between the shore and the tracks
was gradually eliminated.
After the completion of the Essex Bridge to Beverly in 1788-89,
Bridge Street was improved and renamed. Bentley noted in 1790; "A
great number of hands employed in repairing the new Road to the
Bridge. The Earth is dug in trenches on each side, and thrown into
the middle, and upon the highest land a foot path is left near the
fences & walks. . . We have good hopes that the road will be pleasant . "
There was some problem then in land-taking as there is sometimes
today; Bentley wrote in 1794 of the "death of Robert Hooper who had
long delayed the laying out of Ferry lane by his land and buildings
where the road was intended. " Hooper ' s mother died in 1795, the
house near Winter Street was removed, and the street straightened.
As far as is known the Skerry house is the only very early one
which now remains in the Bridge StrEEt area. However, after the
Bridge was finished.,Salemites began to build and move houses on the
street. Bentley mentions quite a few new houses built between 1796
and 1800 for such people as Chever, Dunnel, Noyes, who also ran a
Hemp House, and Barras. Joseph Gardner, a baker, carried on his
business in a house on the south side of Bridge Street between Pleasant
Street and Winter Street. Bentley wrote that in 1799 Gardner " erected
11.
BRIDGE STREET (continued)
a place in Bridge Street to ride wooden horses, a newly introduced
amusement of the Town. "
Mr. Gardner soon moved to March Street, which had been newly
opened by Thomas March Woodbridge, who later in 1811 had McIntire
build the brick house on the corner, which is now the home of the
North Shore Children ' s Friend & Family Service Association. According
to B. F. Browne, the wooden horses which were also moved to March
Street "were the delight and admiration of all the boys of my time,
and on Election, Thanksgiving and other public days, he opened his
house for the entertainment of the public. . . a genial man who dealt
in other commodities than bread and ' lasses cakes, though for these
he had his full Ishare of custom, his carts going every day around Salem
and to Beverly. . .There were about a dozen of his wooden horses, saddled
and bridled, each one attached to the outer end of a shaft, the
other end of which was attached to an upright revolving post, which
was turned either by a horse or by boys within the ring. . . . " Bentley
walked to Gardner' s in 1816 to buy the special three cent Election Day
cakes.
Another interesting bit of history about the area around old
Ferry lane or Bridge Streetooncerns Windmill Point, which was the name
of the neck of land at the end of Northey Street. Mr. Robert Hooper
told Bentley in 1791 "that the windmill formerly standing on that point
was brought from Boston 1n 1733 . It stood on Copp' s Hill in the north
part of that Town, and was struck with Lightning. Mr. Clough the
father of the present generation came with it. . .Mr. Hooper attended it
in person for sometime. " In 1819 Bentley mentions that in the background
of a portrait of Samuel Curwen, who died in 1802, there is shown, among
other things, the"Windmill on the estate at Windmill point. . . . "
The side streets off Bridge Street developed in the following
12.
BRIDGE STREET (continued)
sequence generally speaking: first, towards the North River, then towards
the planters ' Marsh,,presumably near the end of Osgood Street where
Captain Osgood built his whar£,,and finally between Bridge Street and
Collins Cove to the south.
BRIDGE STREET - SOUTH SIDE (From St. Peter Street to Pleasant Street. )
See St. Peter Street for notes about the jail.
The small indented area now used for parking at the north end of
the Howard Street Burying Ground was the location of the Hay Scales,
after they were removed from Central Street.
HOWARD STREET ENDS.
#159 Bridge Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof,wooden (siding) house is gable end to
Bridge Street and must once have had a lovely view of the North River
from its Greek Revival style pilastered and recessed entrance. The
house is relatively simple and architecturally intact. The high brick
foundation reflects the contnnrs of the slope towards the river. The
house has two small ells in the back.
WILLIAMS STREET ENDS.
#155 Bridge Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This two-story plus pitch roof,.,wooden house faces Bridge Street. The
facade is broken by three projecting bay windows and a porch, the roof of
which is supported by turned posts which were popular during this period
A high stone foundation raises the house well above the sidewalk level.
Between #155 and #153 there is a small flat roofed,, cinder block garage.
#153 Bridge Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This is a large two-story plus pitch roof,,wooden house directly on Bridge
Street. The house has a shop in the brick faced basement floor. The house
is trimmed with simple paired brackets in the Itallanate style,
13.
BRIDGE STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
MALL STREET ENDS.
#151 Bridge Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This house has a complex form, characteristic of the style of this
period. It has cross gables, flat roofed ells, a projecting„pedimented,,
one-story entrance porch, bay windows, etc. These features combined with
decorated barge boards and varied window trim make it a good example of the
architecture of the Fourth Quarter of the 19th century.
This house is on the site of the first Catholic Church in Salem,
which was built in the early 1800 ' s on land given the church by a member
of the Forrester family and ,torn down in 1877 . The house was probably
built shortly thereafter.
OLIVER STREET ENDS.
WINTER STREET BEGINS.
#137 Bridge Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is a two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house with its gable end to
the street. The entrance in the Greek Revival style is in a small ell
to one side of the house and is reached by passing through a covered
portico with columns which are later than the Greek Revival period. There
is a triangular shaped window in the peak of the gable end.
#135 Bridge Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD : THIRD QUARTER.
This two-story plus scooped Mansard roof, wooden (brick siding) house is
a fine example of the Italianate style. The architect made good use of
boldly carved brackets, modillions and hood moldings to accent an
impressive doorway and the lay window to one side.
#131 Bridge Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a typical Federal period house with three stories plus a hip roof
and its narrow end on the street. The wooden house has a typical Federal
cornice under the eaves, a balanced five-bay facade in the west yard with
a central entrance and semieliptical fanlight, which is now partially
hidden by the addition of a Victorian canopy and supporting brackets.
.14.
BRIDGE STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
A small entrance on the street end also has Victorian trim. There are
several additions on the back of the house. A large seckel pear tree
in the yard still flourishes as few do nowadays. In the back of the
large side yard there is a large cinder block garage.
#129 Bridge Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is an interesting two-story plus gambrel roofAwooden house which
is L-shaped and set at an oblique angle to the street. Basically it
seems to date from the Federal period, but has been much altered by the
addition of a two-story high bay window on the street or narrow end and a
two-story wooden covered porch inserted in the angle of the ell. On the
east side of the house there is still a third addition, a flat-roofed
Beverly jog with the remains of a 'simple pilastered entrance.
#127 Bridge Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof . wooden (siding) house consists of two nearly
equal parts, the older of which is probably the part which faces Bridge
Street and is set back from it. This portion has a five-bay facade and a
lean-to in the back which makes it a salt-box house. The entrance is in
the center of the facade in a handsome pilastered and pedimented enclosed
porch. Attached to the eastern end of this house is a two-story plus hip
roof wooden addition which projects toward the sidewalk making the house
L-shaped. One end of this addition is brick laid up in Flemish bond, which
went out of style in Salem by 1820 . The wide wooden window frames in the
brick wall suggest that this may have been added to the house prior to 1810.
The house is on a very low foundation.
#123 Bridge Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof„wooden house faces Bridge Street. It has
a five-bay facade and central entrance which has been altered in the
Italianate style. This appears to be the only exterior change except for
a later addition at the rear of the house.
1$,
BRIDGE STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
#12112 Bridge Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
Set at a slant in a narrow area between its neighbors on either side, this
is a two-story plus a pitch roof house. It has a two-story, three-sided
bay window and zipper brick foundation on the gable or street end, both
characteristics of the architecture of the end of the 1800 ' s . On the
side towards #121 Bridge Street .the house has four successive projecting
jogs . It is very hard to identify the origin of this house; it does not show
on the 1874 Atlas .
#121 Bridge Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
Set back from and facing Bridge Street, this three-story plus hip roof ,
wooden (siding) house has a five-bay facade. The central entrance is in
an enclosed pedimented entrance porch which is trimmed with four fluted
pilasters and a dentil cornice. On the Pleasant Street end of the house
there is a Greek Revival style entrance portico and doorway, and on the
western side the simple entrance is in the Federal style. There are two
pitched roof dependencies attached to the back of this house, the first of
which may have been part of the original house.
PLEASANT STREET BEGINS.
16.
BRIGGS STREET
Briggs Street is said to have been laid out in the early 1800 ' s
by Thomas Briggs, whose house and ropewalk were on his property
east of the Common. As early as 1806, when brick houses in Salem
were listed in the Salem Gazette, Richard Savary had a house partly
of brick on Briggs Court. Originally the street was only about two-
thirds of its present length and was called a court. B. F. Browne
wrote that there was a bench at the bottom of it and also a small house
belonging to a lady named Mack,who sold cakes and ale. Mr. Briggs was
buried in a small fenced plot of land behind the house at the north
corner of Briggs Street and the Common. (See Washington Square East. )
His father-in-law, Mr. Vincent, who also had a ropewalk on the east
side of the Common, was buried there, too. The enclosed family burying
ground must now be covered by the hot-top parking space on the north
side of Briggs Street behind #94 Washington Square East.
Briggs Street is interesting because despite the mixture of archi-
tectural periods, the houses, which are similar in size and scale, are
very compatible.
BRIGGS STREET - SOUTH SIDE.
#4 Briggs Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER (?)
This house has Italianate details, but unlike most Salem houses in this
style it is made of brick instead of wood; it may actually be a Federal
building which was remodeled during the Third Quarter of the 19th
Century. It has two stories plus a Mansard roof with pedimented dormer
windows, the narrow three-bay end of the oblong house is on the
street with an entrance at one side and bracketed bay window above.
Both the paired wooden brackets under the eaves and the wooden trim
above the windows (but only on the north and west sides of the house)
are characteristic of the Italianate style . The house lacks the high
foundation which is usually a feature of this architectural period.
Part of the west wall is laid up in Flemish bond, which is unusual after
1817 or 1820.
17.
BRIGGS STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
BRIGGS STREET - North Side
#13 Briggs Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof, end-to-the-street, wooden (siding)
house is in the Greek Revival style. The recessed entrance at one
side of the facade has simple pilasters at either side. The wide
entablature and cornice make the gable end of the house resemble a
Greek temple; this was a favorite architectural device during this
period. Behind the main house there are two smaller two-story plus
pitch roof additions .
#17 Briggs Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This house is a good example of the Italianate style. It is a two-
story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house with its entrance on the
street, or gable end. Paired brackets dress up the two bay windows,
one above the door and the other to one side of it, and also call
attention tothe eaves . Other typical decorative features of this style
are the square posts supporting tne�)ortico and the hood molded window
lintels .
#19 Briggs Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This house is a two-story plus pitch roof clapboard building with its
gable end on the street and is similar to #17 Briggs Street. Above the
recessed entrance there is a bay window trimmed with brackets; there are
also paired brackets under the eaves .
#21 Briggs Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL
This unusual,, small wooden (siding) house has two stories plus a pitch
roof and is gable end to the street. Its unusual feature is the
modillioned cornice outlining the gable, which is similar to the treat-
ment of the Old Town Hall, but unusual in a private house. The entrance
in the yard with its Victorian trim is later than the house as are the
additions to the house beyond its original five-bay facade.
#23 Briggs Street' RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This small two-story plus pitch roof,.wooden (shingled) house is gable
18.
r
BRIGGS STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
end to the street. It has typical pre-Federal molded window caps and
sills and a small enclosed,pedimented entrance porch in the yard. A
small oval window on the street side of this porch has a nice frame with
the suggestion of a keystone at its top and bottom, an elegant touch.
The rather high brick foundation of this buibing suggests that it may
have been noved to this location.
#25-27 Briggs Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roof house is similar to #22 High Street;
they both have brick ends, are directly on the street and have two
entrances, one in the side yard on either side of the house. The brick
(Flemish bond) east and west walls of this house are belted and the
windows have plank frames and no ornamental lintels . Both the entrances
to this house have had Victorian trim superimposed on the original
reeded pilasters, which can still be seen. There is an ell beyond the
house in the yard. Shingles on the street end of the house probably
cover the original clapboards . The house has four Federal period
chimneys .
The 1806 list of brick houses in Salem at that time included one
"partly of brick" which was listed as Richard Savary ' s, Briggs Court.
This is undoubtedly the same house.
#29 Briggs Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
All of the incidental features of this simple two-story plus pitch roof,
wooden house remain as they have probably been for many years and are a
tribute to the carpenters who have kept it in repair and to the owners
who paid for the maintenance. These features include a fence of round
pickets and square posts, low acorn-topped posts strung with a chain to
form a barrier along the brick sidewalk leading into the side entrance
and a delicate trellis which is pointed like a Gothic arch and separates
the back and front yards .
The house itself has a central entrance in the middle of the five-
bay facade in the yard. The flat boards between the top of each second-
. �9.
BRIGGS STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
story window and the eaves are usually a characteristic of houses
built during the Federal period.
#33 Briggs Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This house is similar to several others on the street and was probably
built a bit later than No. ' s 17 and 19. It has two stories plus a
pitch roof and is gable end to the street. Brackets, simpler than
those on the other houses of this period, trim the two-story bay
window, entrance and cornice. The front door is original; it is a
double door with some stained-glass windows.
20.
'fit...
l yZ t ♦ i J
y
BROWN STREET
Perley in his research found references to Brown Street as early
as 1661 when it was called "a highway" ; in 1667 it was referred to
as the "lane by ye pounds' . Other names he found for it were..the
"lane leading .to the new church" and the "back street to the training
field" the Common). By 1796, Bentley says, Brown' s Street ran from
the church to the corner of the Common..
Saunders ' 1820 Map shows Brown Street continuing through to
Pleasant Street along the Common, and writers like Browne also
referred to Washington Square North as Brown Street, which makes it
difficult to identify the specific areas and buildings they mention.
Browne also wrote that it should be spelled "Browne Street„" :
Brown Street is related to Salem' s maritime days by virtue of
the fact that Nathaniel Bowditch was born on the street in 1773 in
the house which ha; since been moved back to Kimball Court. It is
also appropriate to note that much of the work of making the frigate
Essex ready to go to sea was done by men who were in one way or another
connected with Brown Street. According to Charles C. Bassett' s article
in the January 1951 copy of the Essex Institute Historical Proceedings,
Jonathan Harraden ' s ropewalk made the rigging at his factory on this
street. (B. F. Browne wrote that the headhouse of the ropewalk was
on the site of #6 Brown Street, just east of Howard Street.) John
Howar4 of the firm of Buffum and Howard, which made her sails, lived on
Brown Street at #33 according to early writers . At present there is
no number thirty-three, but other numbers on the street have evidently
been changed, hence the house where he lived may still be standing.
(See also Howard Street.) Browne also wrote that William Luscomb,
who lived on Brown Street,rdid the painting and plumbing on the ship.
A present resident of the street believes that Captain Ichabod Nichols
once lived in his house on Brown Street; it is .also interesting that
Captain Nichols was a member of the committee appointed to build the
Essex in October 1798.
21.
BROWN STREET (continued)
Difficulties for American vessels at sea were created at that
period by the war between England and France, and the new nation could not
afford to build vessels itself at the time; hence funds were subscribed
by Salemites, and the Frigate Essex was launched September 30, 1799.
She was the first American ship of war to double the Cape of Good Hope
and carry our flag to the Indian and Pacific Oceans . Some of the
famous American naval heroes who sailed aboard her were William Bainbridge,
David Farragut and Stepheh Decatur.
BROWN STREET - NORTH SIDE (Even numbers)
Kimball Court begins .
#2-4 Brown Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : THIRD QUARTER.
This large, double, wooden (siding) house is a good example of the
architecture of the third quarter of the 19th century. It has a
symmetrical facade with paired matching porticoes in the center and
two-story bay windows on either side. The house has three stories plus
a scoop Mansard roof with scalloped slates and Italianate dormer windows.
The trim is in the Italianate style. The Bowditch birthplace, now behind
this house on Kimball Court, was formerly on this site; the autYor of
Old Naumkeag referred to the present #2 Brown Street as the "Kimball
house. "
#6 Brown Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This austere brick house is in the Greek Revival style with five-sided,
molded window and door lintels on the first floor level, a recessed
central front entrance up granite steps and a flat brick entablature
under the eaves. It faces Brown Street and has two stories plus a
pitch roof and slender end chimneys . B. F. Browne wrote in 1862 that
the headhouse of Haraden ' s Ropewalk was on the site of this house, which
he said had been built by the late Henry Russell. The brass knocker
on the front door of this house is unusual.
Howard Street begins .
22.
BROWN STREET - NORTH SIDE (Even numbers) continued
#8 Brown Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This house has Flemish bond brickwork and three stories plus a hip
roof, both characteristric of the Federal period. The cornice is
composed of molded bricks, and there are no lintels above the windows .
The narrow end of the rectangular house faces the street with the door-
way at one side of it. The lights and details around the recessed
entrance are more characteristic of the Greek Revival style than of the
Federal and may represent a later modification.
#12 Brown Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roof, brick house is very similar to #8;
it is laid up in Flemish bond and has no window lintels ; however, the
five-bay facade faces the street . The centered front entrance has been
modified to a considerable degree and now has a roof supported by
Victorian consoles and bay window above. The cornice under the eaves
is a molded wooden strip; the original chimneys have evidently been
removed.
#14 Brown Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) , L-shaped house is
gable end to the street. The trim about the windows and the wide over-
hanging eaves are simple but heavy. The house with its round-headed
windows is a simple example of the Italianate style.
Brown Street Court begins.
#18 Brown Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This house is a far grander and more ornate example of the Italianate
style than # #. next door. It has three stories and a hip roof, ornate
paired Italianate brackets, a rusticated facade and varied trim about
the windows . The entrance is through a side porch with square columns
which were introduced during this period. In front of the house there
is a low cast iron fence. The building now serves as the headquarters
for the Salem Young Women ' s Association.
It is difficult to tell who lived where on Brown Street because the
23.
BROWN STREET - NORTH SIDE (Even numbers) cont ' d
numbers in 1967 do not seem to agree with the numbers used by some of
the earlier writers . However, it seems fairly certain that this house
was built by Stephen B. Ives on land previously occupied by the Poynton
House, which was moved to the back onto Brown Street Court and has
since been razed. (See Brown Street Court. ) If so, this was later
the home of Stephen Webb. The Webb family had a long association with
Brown Street. Bentley said in 1803 that Captain S. Webb bought the
ropewalk in Brown Street, and Browne in 1862 wrote that he was then a
retired shipmaster. Stephen Webb ' s son, Stephen P. Webb .was mayor of
Salem from 1842. -45, mayor of San Francisco during the hectic year
1854-55 and, again,ma.yor of Salem from 1860-62 .
Until very recently there was a large, three-story. plus hip roof,
wooden house west of #18 Brown Street. It was said to have been the
home of John Osgood, a sea captain and merchant, in the early days,
and later the home of the first Filene of the very successful mercan-
tile family.
BROWN STREET - SOUTH SIDE (Odd numbers)
#1 Brown Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This simple, small two-story plus pitch roof building faces Howard
Street and has a lean-to attached to part of the rear. The wooden
(siding) structure has a three-bay facade, and the ground floor has been
altered so that it now has 'shop windows. It is possible that it was
built as a shop originally since it is recorded that Nehemiah Adams,
the cabinetmaker, removed to Brown Street after his shop burned in 1798.
A peek in the window reveals a delicate chair railing with the familiar
triglyph and metope motifs . The present owner says that Sarah Symonds,
a Salem artist during the first half of the 20th century, had her shop here.
#3 Brown Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The basic form, shape and proportions of the two-story plus pitch roof,
wooden house suggest that it dates from the Federal period. The high
24•
BROWN STREET - SOUTH SIDE (Odd numbers) cont ' d
brick foundation and side entrance porch seem. to date from
a later period. Perhaps the house was moved to its present, rather
crowded situation from some other location and altered at that or some other
time.
#5 Brown Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL (Italianate)
The architectural trim on the facade of this three-story plus hip roof
wooden house is clearly in the Italianate style, but the basic shape
and proportions of the house seem surely to be in the Federal style.
A glimpse at the back of the house confirms the early 19th century
origins of this building.
#7 Brown Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: 17th CENTURY.
The John Ward House. See the Essex Institute, 132 Essex Street,
North Side.
#15 Brown Street. The back of the Massachusetts State Armory.
See 136 Essex Street, North Side.
#17 Brown Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roofs wooden (siding) house with
its five-bay facade facing Brown Street is a typical example of the
Federal period house. It has a delicate wooden cornice, simple
pilastered entrance on the street„ as well as a side enclosed and
pedimented entrance porch, and numerous ells at the back of the house.
#21 Brown Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
Street.
This small_ two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house faces Brown/ The
first floor of the three-bay facade has now been converted into store
windows. Behind the house there are several additions or ells; the
porch at the east side of the house was probably an early addition.
#23 Brown Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: 1850 's
This two-story plus pitch roof brick warehouse was probably built
he
during 1850 ' s. it is gable end to the street and has segmental
arches over the windows and doors and a brick cornice. An old-timer
says that it was once Harding' s Blacksmith Shop.
25.
BROWN STREET COURT
The Court does not show on the 1820 Map of Salem, and was probably
(now demolished)
not opened up until the time when the Poynton House/was moved back .
from the location of the present #18 Brown Street in the latter
part of the 19th century.
BROWN STREET COURT - EAST SIDE (Even numbers)
#4-6 Brown Street Court RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
At the end of Brown Street Court there is a large two-story plus
Mansard roof, double house with Italianate trim. It has a balanced
facade with a projecting bay in the center and a doorway on either side
of it. The house is wooden.
BROWN STREET COURT - WEST SIDE (Odd numbers)
Opposite #4-6 Brown Street Court was the site , for a time, of
the famous Poynton House with its lovely carved pineapple-trimmed
The building has been demolished, but
entrance. Certain architectural features of this house may now be
seen inside the Essex Institute. The house was pre-Federal in style
and belonged to Captain Thomas Poynton. Bentley, writing in 1811 said,
"Yesterday died Madame Hanna Poynton, aet. 83. She was a Bray and
married Captain Thomas Poynton, an Englishman who acquired before the
revolution a handsome property and lived in the best style of his
day. . . . " Poynton was a Tory who went to England at the start of the
Revolution and died there in 1781. How the wives of the loyalist
gentlemen who went to England made out staying in Salem is not recorded.
26.
CARLTON STREET
Both Perley and Bentley discussed the early history of Carlton Street.
Perley wrote that it was laid out in or before 1801 and that the area around
the northern end was called "Job ' s Field" in 1671. Bentley recorded in
1809 that "Carleton Street lately was a field upon the Cromwell estate. . . .
It was known above half a Century ago before the Derby street crossed it,
as the Bakehouse field, from the Bakehouse standing on Essex street, and
t,
it had many Divisions before it was bought by Captain Carlton. . . . " The
street was widened in 1852 .
Bentley boarded with Captain Carlton ' s daughter, Mrs . Crowninshield,
and mentions him as having "carried Richard Derby, who was the father of
E (lias) H(asket) . . . to sea with him as boy, seaman & mate. . . . " The name
Carlton, which is also spelled Carleton, was a distinguished and familiar
one in Salem. A Captain Carlton and his vessel were reported to have been
taken by French privateers in the West Indies in 1760, and later he commanded
a privateer during the Revolution. Captain John Carlton was master of the
ship Putnam, owned in part by Nathaniel Bowditch, when it was boarded by
natives near Singapore and six of the crew were killed. Samuel Carlton
was elected to the General Court in 1776 and published one of the first
Salem newspapers . Michael Carlton, "minister-at-large" during the early
1800 ' s, inspired interest in providing help for those in need; among other
things,he and his family took orphans into their home when they lived on
Charter Street, and this presumably led to the founding of the present
North Shore Children ' s Friend & Family Service Society.
It would be interesting to study the development of one of the many
streets opened in Salem around 1800 such as Carlton or Williams Street.
Evidently it was similar to the subdivisions of today. The lots on Carlton
Street are narrow, and therefore the houses are close together and usually
gable end to the street. Most of them were probably built during the
Federal period shortly after the street was opened, although the addition of
27.
CARLTON STREET (continued)
Victorian trim around entrances and two-over-two windows has blurred the
Federal character of the street.
CARLTON STREET - EAST SIDE
#1 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This simple L-shaped, two-story plus pitch roof building has its entrance
in the yard bordering on Carlton Street. It does not show in this location
on the 1851 Map, yet a glimpse through the front door once revealed what
appeared to be Federal period stair balusters, and the house has narrow
old clapboards. Perhaps the 1851 Map was inaccurate, or the house was
moved to this location at a ]&er date. There are several small additions
beyond the main house.
There is no #3 Carlton Street.
#5 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
The form and shape of this house is very similar to #'1 Carlton Street. It
is a two-story plus pitch roof, L-shaped Ywooden building with its entrance
in the side yard and its narrow end onthe street. However, it has simple
e
carved and paired brackets under the eaves, which were popular during the
Italianate period from 1850-75. The house does not appear on the 1851
Map of Salem, but is on the 1874 Atlas. It is possible that it was moved
to this location.
#7 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is one of very few Carlton Street houses which face the street. The
entrance is in the center of a five-bay facade and is undoubtedly as it was
originally built during the Greek Revival period. The original wooden
exterior is now covered with siding. The building has two stories plus
a pitch roof.
#9 Carlton Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This three-story.� wooden (siding) house has a nearly flat pitch roof, which
appears to have been raised to provide more space on the third floor. The
28.
i
CARLTON STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
wide window sills on the first two floors and narrow one on the third are
further evidence that the house has been remodeled and is older thn it
now appears to be. The entrance is in the side yardyand there are covered
porches and stairs attached to the back wall of the house. The round
turned posts, which support the roof above the entrance, are typical of
the end of the 19th century and were probably added when the house was
altered.
# ' s 11, 13 and 15 Carlton Street are all quite similar in size,
shape and location and are close together on this narrow street. The
windows of all three appear to have been changed from the six-over-six
form of the Federal and Greek Revival periods to the larger panes, which
became popular during the second half of the 19th century.
#11 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
This is a two-story plus pitch roof., gable-end-to-the-street house. The
exterior is covered with clapboards . The entrance in the south side of
the building has simple Victorian consoles supporting. a small roof above
the doorway and was undoubtedly modified during the third quarter of the
19th century.
#13 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The narrow end of this two-story plus pitch roof house is on the street,
and the entrance in the side yard is sheltered by what is probably a
modern projecting, molded pediment supported by wooden trellises . Wooden
clapboards cover the outside of the buikhng, which is very close to its
neighbor.
#15 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The outstanding feature of this two-story plus pitch roof.,gable-end-to-the-
street,wooden house is its Federal style entrance in the middle of the
five-bay south side of the house. The trim includes a semicircular
fanlight, which breaks into the base of an overhead pediment trimmed with
29•
CARLTON STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
fine dentil strips . On either side of ,the door there is a flat
pilaster trimmed with horizontal projecting strips of molding which
are level with the top of the door frame . The windows in this house
are modern.
#17 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This house, unlike most on the street , faces the street and has its
very simple entrance in the middle of a three-bay facade. The house
is covered with old shingles , but may originally have had clapboards .
The six-over-six windows have been replaced with modern ones, and
the old chimney is gone. The house has two stories plus a pitch roof.
#19 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house is gable end to the street, and
much like most of the other houses on Carlton Street. It probably
dates from the Federal period, although the wide overhanging eaves
and Victorian consoles-which support a simple roof above the side
entrance„make it hard to tell the age of this building. The two-story
plus pitch roof house has never gone out of style and is easily
remodeled,which frequently makes dating such buildings difficult.
#21 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This small pitch roof house has one-and-a-half stories with simple
carved brackets under the eaves and above the windows . On the gable
or street end there is a small bay window at the second-story level.
The entrance on the south side of the house has very handsome carved
bracket trim.
#23 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This small two-story plus gambrel roof, wooden (siding) house faces
the street and is directly on it. The entrance is at one side of the
facade, and Victorian brackets have been imposed over the original
fluted pilasters, which are on either side of the door. There is a
lean-to roof on the back of the house ,making it what is commonly called
3a•
p
CARLTON STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
a "saltbox. "
PRE-
#25 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: ,-, FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof,clapboard house is gable end to the street,
and has the large central chimney which is usually associated with the
Pre-Federal period. The house is very close to the ground and has a
simple entrance with a small transom above it on the north side of the
house . A two-story piazza has been added to the back of the house.
#27 Carlton Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
On the surface this appears to be a multiple-family dwelling of the type
common around 1900 known as a "triple decker. " It is a three-story plus
hip roof. oblong,wooden (siding) building with a recessed entrance on the
street or narrow end and three-story porches and stairways attached to the
back of the house. The hip roof, wooden cornice and low foundation all
suggest that this house was built during the Federal period; it shows on
the 1874 Atlas . It was probably remodeled around 1900 .
#29 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : INDETERMINATE.
As late as the 1897 Atlas there is no house at this location, but rather
an outbuilding behind the brick house on the corner of Derby Street. This
is a two-story plus pitch roof wooden building, gable end to the street
.nd set on a high brick foundation . There is a facade gable on the north
side of the house under which there is a very simple double entrance.
#33 Carlton Street (See #96-98 Derby Street. )
CARLTON STREET - WEST SIDE
#6 Carlton Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This gable-end-to-the-street wooden (siding) house has two stories plus a
very shallow pitch roof. The enclosed recessed entrance is at one side of
the gable end and has Victorian trim. The simple style of the house an d
lack of details make it hard to date on the basis of the exterior. It
might be one of the many small Salem buildings Bentley described as
"movable" it is on the 1874 Atlas .
310
CARLTON STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
#8 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
This two-story plus gambrel roof, wooden (siding) house is gable end to the
street and has its entrance on the south side. Victorian trim has replaced
the original period details, hence the house is hard to date. It probably
dates from the Federal period or earlier since it has a large central
chimney and very low foundation. There is an ell in back of the house.
TWO
#10 Carlton Street RATING:/ PERIOD: FEDERAL '
The exterior of this three-story plus hip roof ,wooden house remains more
or less as it was originally except for the addition of Victorian scrolls,
which have been applied over the original Federal style trim around the
main entrance in the side yard. The house is oblong with its narrow end
on the street and has a bold wooden cornice of the Federal period. There is
a small two-story pitch roof addition on the west end of the house. Fiske
Kimball refers to this as the Lambert or Archer house and says it has very
fine mantelpieces, strikingly different from those designed by McIntire.
#12 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is another relatively simple two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house
set with its gable end to the street. Like #10 it has a Federal style
entrance with reeded pilasters and a semicircular fanlight, which was
modified when Victorian trim was added to it. A two-story flat roof ell
has been added to the far end of the house.
. #14 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
The addition of Victorian trim around front doors seems to have been an
epidemic in this neighborhood. The owners of this house appear to have
caught the bug too, and had it added to what was originally a very simple
entrance in the yard of this gable-end-to-the-street house. It is a two-
story plus pitch roof wooden building with a small ell attached to the
rear. Two large pieces of granite provide a solid pair of steps up to the
front door. The house has quite small window openings and the original
chimney is gone. There is a small garage in the yard.
32.
CARLTON STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
016 Carlton Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: ca. 1850 .
The projecting pediment over the entrance in the tjable or street end of
this house is decorated with a handsome and unusual carved shell. The
house otherwise is a simple two-story plus pitch roof wooden building with
a two-story high bay window beside the entrance.
#18 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a small simple two-story plus pitch roof,wooden (siding) house.
It is gable end to the street and similar to many other such houses of this
peaod in Salem. The simple entrance in the yard south of the house has had a
modern canopy added to it, and the original chimneys have been replaced.
#20 Carlton Street. The house which stood here formerly was recently
demolished.
#22 Carlton Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: ABOUT 1900 .
This large three-story flat roofed ,wooden house has the appearance of a
so-called "triple decker. " The major characteristic of the house is its
three-story piazza and outside staircase. Like several other houses on
this street, if it was converted into a tenement about 1900, no architectural
details or clues of an earlier period are still evident, with the possible
exception of rather small windows and the granite and field stone foundation.
There was a building on this location in the 1874 Atlas.
#24 Carlton Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: ca. 1900 .
This three-story flat roofawooden house appears to have been built about
1900. The entrance on the street is through a simple portico, which
probably dates from this Colonial Revival period. A change in the clap-
boards above the second-story level and the old style granite foundation
suggest, however, that this house, like several others on the street, may
actually be older than its external architecture appears . There are two
very large boxwood plants in the narrow yard in front of the house.
#26 Carlton Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD:. THIRD QUARTER.
This wooden (siding) house is gable end , to the street and has one story
33.
CARLTON STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
plus a pitch roof. The paired brackets which provide the decorative
accents are in the Italianate style. Two large dormer windows on the
south side of the house appear to be the only major modifications of the
house.
#28 Carlton Street (See #100 Derby Street. )
34•
CURTIS STREET - From Essex to Orange Street
Curtis Street formerly ran all the way to Derby Street until
1915, when it was discontinued about halfway down and turned to con-
nect with Orange Street. Perley reports that it was laid out by
Widow Hester Eastwick about 1668, and extended to the harbor some
thirty years later. From time to time it was known as Esticke ' s lane,
Vealy ' s lane and�by 1759, Curtis ' lane. Around 1790, Bentley refers to
it as the Lane leading from Captain John White' s to the Wharves. Ac-
cording to a manuscript at the Essex Institute known as Salem Estates
and Localities, Curtis lived on the west corner of Curtis and Essex
Streets and Capt. John white n the east. Other people mentioned by
i
Bentley as having lived on the street are Chever, Richardson, Hill,
William Merriam�a carpenter, and William Browne, a tailor and long-
time deacon of the East Church. Benjamin Felt lived there and was a
block and pump maker with a shop on Derby Street. On February 3, 1814,
Bentley noted that he "Had the pleasure of seeing the flying shuttle at
work in a loom in Curtis Street. This invention is a happy one, & this
is the first loom I have seen at work in the east part of Salem since I
have been an inhabitant above 30 years . "
CURTIS STREET - WEST SIDE (Even numbers)
#4 Curtis Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
No. 4 Curtis Street is far back from the street; it is a two-story
plus gambrel roof house with two simple pedimented dormer windows. The
facade which faces the street has five bays and a central entrance with
later Victorian trim. The small windows on either side of the door are
coupled or paired. There is a two-story ell at one end of the house.
#6 Curtis Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This is one of three similar gable end-to-the-street, two-story plus
gambrel roof, wooden houses on Curtis Street. The simple pilastered
entrance is on the north side of the building which still has its old
35.
CURTIS STREET - WEST SIDE (Even numbers) continued
narrow clapboards . There is a small ell in the rear. The two-over-two
windows are not original, of course, and the high brick foundation
suggests the possibility that the house was either raised or moved
here.
#8 Curtis Street RATING: -TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story: plus pitch roof, gable end-to-the-street, clapboard
house backs up to #6 Curtis Street. The central entrance is in the
yard on the south side of the house and has very fine Federal trim,
including a semi-circular fanlight and reeded soffit set in a pediment
supported by fluted pilasters. Strung out behind the house are three
attached additions, one of which may ha)ebeEn a separate house shown
in the same location on the 1874 Atlas.
#10 Curtis Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus gambrel roof, end-to=the-street house is similar
to others on the street except that it has a brick wall on the north
end. The two chimneys on the rear of the house seem to date from the
Federal period. The entrance on the south side has an enclosed porch
with broad, flat pilasters at the corners typical of the Greek Revival
era . Siding hides what are undoubtedly wooden clapboards. The facade
cornice is an unusual one made up of three-sided}tapered drops, rather
similar to those on the cornice at #34 Chestnut Street and #22 Beckford
Street. In the yard there are Seckle pear and cherry trees, typical
features of old-time Salem yards.
#12 Curtis Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This low-stud, two-story plus pitch roof, clapboard house was probably
once a long, narrow building with its gable end to the street. Now
there is a small addition similar in style and height on the street end
of the original building and at right angles to it. There is little
trim evident on this simple house to suggest how old it is, but it is
probably of the Federal or earlier period.
36 .
CURTIS STREET - WEST SIDE (Even numbers) continued
#14 Curtis Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
Outwardly at least, this two-story plus Mansard roof, wooden (siding)
house appears to date from the Third Quarter of the 19th Century. Its
typical entrance with Victorian brackets is on the narrow street end
of the house, and there is a two-story bay window beyond it.
CURTIS STREET - EAST SIDE (Odd numbers).
#3 Curtis Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Moved south from its original location facing Essex Street, this
three-story house shows little signs of the fact that it is actually
a fine,L-shaped, hip-roofed mansion of the Federal period. Siding
covers what are probably wooden clapboards, and two-over-two windows
have replaced the originals . The central entrance of the five-bay
facade has a semi--circular fanlight and very delicate trim including
paired, reeded pilasters, small modillions and other classical de-
tails popular in the Federal period. The wooden cornice under the
eaves has a band of delicate rope trim. It was once Captain John White' s
house.
#7 Curtis Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
Similar to #6 Curtis Street across the way, this also is a two-story
plus gambrel roof, narrow, clapboard, end-to-the-street house. The
central front doorway has been modified by the addition of a pedi-
mented, projecting roof supported by heavy, large wooden brackets .
There is a small rear ell.
#9 Curtis Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL,
This wooden, three-story house faces Curtis Street and has a five-bay
facade with a central entrance. Around the doorway there is typical
Federal period trim, finely fluted pilasters and delicate modillions.
The original front door has been replaced as have the small paned
sidelights. The roof is nearly flat and has undoubtedly been changed
also; it may once have been a two-story plus pitch-roof house.
37.
CURTIS STREET - EAST SIDE (Odd nuumbers)
#11 Curtis Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
No. eleven Curtis Street faces the south and perhaps once had a view
of the harbor before the Old Ladies Home was built. It is a two-
story plus pitch roof wooden building with its gable end on the
street. Victorian trim now adorns the central entrance in the south
yard where lilacs grow.
38.
DANIELS STREET
Daniels Street is an old Salem street. Perley found it referred
to as a highway as early as 1661, and in 1715 it was known as Ingersoll' s
lane for a family who owned land on it during the 1660 ' s. By the mid
1700 ' s it was called Daniel ' s lane andleventuallyyDaniels Street.
Bentley wrote in 1809 that Stephen Daniels ' house and the eastern part
of Silsbee ' s house in Daniels Street still existed
"so that we still have all the houses from which the streets are
named. "
The Visitors ' Guide to Salem (1892) said that this street led
to one of the "town landings" on the South River. This information
does not appear elsewhere, but certainly there was activity at the
end of the street during the 1600 ' s when Stephen Daniels, the shipwright,
built his house at the head of the street and ships at the foot of it.
The shoreline at the foot of the street has changed considerably
since Salem was first settled, and a point at the foot of Daniels
Street had entirely washed away by Bentley ' s time. In 1791 he wrote
that "Sawdust and Chips are yet found under the mud from the point off
Daniels ' s lane. Foot ' s formerly, and afterwards Elvin' s point. " In
1812 Bentley recounted what Benjamin Ward ' s grandfather, Miles Ward,
had told him around 1760 about the changes in Salem' s coast and the
shore as he remembered them many years before.
"He said that the South River was Salt Marsh all algae the
point by Mr. Elvin' s. . . excepting on the Channels and
breaches into the Cove. . . (at) the bottom of Curtis
Street, he said, where the flats now are, was a point of upland
from Elvin ' s land so near to Long point on the opposite
side (of the river) as to leave only a narrow passage for
the river. The Channel at the Point turned to the Cove
between Daniel ' s and Curtis ' streets, & this Cove was first
called Palfrey ' s from one Palfrey who first made fish
there & the Channel passed out of the Cove towards Stage
Point (across the river) . . . where the Channel passes
Giggles Island (formerly at the foot of Union Street) was
a break to the eastward to this cove of Palfrey, where
Mr. Daniels built & launched Vessels. " Ward explained
"the cause of this change in the following manner. At
39.
DANIELS STREET (continued)
the time of the Settlement the Neck and Winter Island were
a Timber forest to the edge of the Water. The first thing
done was to clear the Neck and Winter Island of their forests
to dry their fish & to fortify the neck with two block houses.
When the Neck was clear of trees the North East winds which
before reached only to Pickering' s Point, on the southeast
point of the southfields, had a full course through the Cove
between the Neck & Island (where Smith's Pool is) & over the
lower part of the neck by the block house, Becket ' s & Hardy ' s land so
as to make an entire breach through Elvin' s land. . . . "
Elvin' shor Foot' s Point and the houses on it had washed away when
Bentley wrote in 1806, "I have seen the well on the flatts below the
land south of Daniels Street. "
By the late 1700 ' s Bentley refers to both Palfrey' s Wharf and
Fogg' s Wharf as being at the foot of Daniels Street. (See also
Kosciusko Street.) The 1820 Map of Salem shows two long wharves directly
east of the street and a short blunt wharf just west of it at the foot
of Kosciusko Street. Various descriptions make it seem likely that
Palfrey' s Wharf was west of the end of the street, aid that Benjamin
Hawkes and John Babbidge, shipbuilders in the early 1800 ' s, whom
Bentley said 'built ships between Derby wharf and Foot ' s point near
Daniels street and the old building yard, " had their shipyard west of
the end of the street. It would be very interesting to do complete
research on these wharves and shipyards and to ascertain the owners of
the two east of the end of Daniels Street.
The street was busy with activities connected with the sea.
B. F. Browne wrote that it was called Wapping Lane, and Rantoul said
that when he was young around 1790, the entire area south of Essex
Street from Daniels Street to the neck gate was called Wapping, after
the dock area in London. Bentley notes between 1793 and 1800 the
existence of three or four new stores or shops on Daniels Street as
well as the building of several other new buildings. Some of the names
connected with the street besides Daniels, Palfrey and Fogg, are Webb,
Hodges, Richardson, Welcome, Giles, U. S. Senator Nathaniel Silsbee,
40.
DANIELS STREET (continued)
Captain Thomas Seaver, Captain Samuel Swasey, captain John Endicott
(a sea captain around 1800)• and Captain James Devereux, who later
lived on Washington Square East.
One of the most noteworthy events which took place on this street
around 1800 is described by Bentley as follows:
May 5, 1811. On Tuesday last, Bishop Cheverus for the first
time since his Consecration & for the first time that a
Catholic Bishop read mass, confirmed, baptised & performed
other duties of the high office of a Bishop. . , preached
to a few Catholics at Mr. Campbell ' s in Daniel ' s Street
below Derby street. . . heard his address & it was happy. . .
it should be remembered that Bishop Garret, now Arch Bishop,
aet. 74, once passed through Salem, tho ' he performed no
religious service publickly in it.
Whether Mr. Campbell' s house still stands is not known.
This old street has been the setting for everyday life in Salem
for some three hundred years, the scene of much maritime activity and
home to many seafaring men, as well as to their wives and children,
the site of shops connected with the sea and, in contrast to the
bustle of the above, the street where Salem Catholics must have
derived great satisfaction when for the first time a Catholic Bishop
read Mass and preached to them.
DANIELS STREET - EAST SIDE
#1 Daniels Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: 17th CENTURY,
enlarged cga. 1750.
The so-called Daniels House, named for its first owner, shipwright
Stephen Daniels, was first built in 1667 and enlarged in 1756 by
Samuel Silsbee 0when the house assumed its present appearance. The
older part of the building is the southern half, the interior of which
still retains its early characteristics . The five-bay facade now has
central entrance on Daniels Street through a reproduction enclosed
pedimented porch. The entrance on the south side was the original main
doorway to the house.
41.
DANIELS STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
The house was repaired during the 1930 ' s and has served as a small
guest house and restaurant ever since. An interesting footnote to the
Daniels family is the fact that Bentley noted in 1805 that Stephen
Daniels widow died. "Both had survived 90 years and lived in . . .
High Street . . . (Stephen Daniels) was a Ship Carpenter, remarkable
for his temperance, diligence & inflexible integrity. "
#5 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus pitch roofywooden house with its gable end to the
street and entrance in the south yard is similar to many of this era
in Salem. The old clapboards are now covered with shingles, and the
original small window sash have been replaced, but the house still
has its original enclosed and pilastered entrance porch in the center
of the three bay south side. Beyond the house there are two ells,
the second of which appears to be newer than the rest of the building.
#7 Daniels Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
No. 7 Daniels Street was a .fine brick (Flemish bond) mansion in the
Federal style. It is a three-story plus hip roof building with its
narrow end on the street. The main entrance, which still has its
divided summer door, is in the north side of the house which has six
bays . A semicircular fanlight above the entrance, the brick dentil
cornice and the reeded splayed brown stone lintels above the windows
are typical details of the Federal period. The house was probably built
between 1810 and 1820. Beyond the house three-story piazzas have been
added,
#9 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Back to #7 Daniels Street is what was once probably a nearly indentical
three-story plus hip roofbrick (Flemish bond) house built at the same
time, since there appear to be no windows on the back of either
building. The roof and cornice of this building have been altered,
and an ell has been added half way down the original facade which
42.
DANIELS STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
covers what was once the original entrance.
#11 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
The most interesting feature of this house is its original central
two-story yenclosed entrance porch. The doorway itself is now
trimmed with Italianate consoles, but the projecting molding above the
window in the second floor is an indication that this porch is
original.
The house itself is a two-story plus gambrel roof building with
its narrow end on the street and has a large square central chimney.
It is covered with siding. In the yard beyond the house, but attached
to the house by a two-story bridge, there is a second two-story plus
pitch roof house with a lean-to attached to the back gable end. This
house, too, seems to date from either the Federal or Pre-Federal period.
#13 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is a two-story plus pitch roo; wooden (siding) house which is
set back from the street on a high stone foundation. The entrance in
the center of the five-bay facade appears to have been in the Greek
Revival style before a late 19th century raised portico was added to
the house.
#15 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This three-story flat roofed, wooden house with its narrow end on
the street appears to have been built as a tenement. It has a
Victorian entrance in the side yard. Behind the house there is an
old one-story plus pitch roof 5clapboard chaise house which has been
converted into a two-car garage.
#17 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This house has an unusual seven-bay balanced facade and overlooks
the street. The central entrance is trimmed with simple flat Greek
Revival pilasters and an entablature.
DERBY STREET CROSSES .
43 .
DANIELS STREET - EAST SIIDE (continued)
#23 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD : FOURTH QUARTER.
This is a typical narrow, wooden, three-story,, flat roof. multiple
family dwelling with three-story piazzas attached to the back. Old
guide books say Senator Nathaniel Silsbee was born here, but a photo
at the Essex Institute shows the house now #27 as the birthplace.
#25 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
No. 25 Daniels Street is set back from the street and like #23 is another
typical three-storyrflat roof triple decker or tenement built around
the turn of the century. This house is puzzling because there appears
to be a house in this rather unusual location back from the street
in the 1874 Atlas; whether this is a newer or thoroughly remodeled
structure is unknown.
#27 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus pitch roof house facing Daniels Street has a
balanced five-bay facade with a central recessed entrance, obviously a
later modification. The small window sash hake also been replaced.
There are no remaining exterior architectural features other than the
size and shape of this house to indicate its age. The house has a large
two-story rear addition and a cinder block garage in the yard. (See
#23 Daniels Street. ) Probable birthplace of Nathaniel Silsbee.
#29 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMIWE.
In the yard beside and behind #27 Daniels Street is a narrow two-story
plus pitch roof gable-end-to-the-street wooden house, which is difficult
to see and date. The two-story bay on the gable end and two-story
piazzas on the iide were possibly added later to a very simple house,
but the present proportions of the building do not appear to be as
early as the Federal period.
#35 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Hidden beneath siding and a later porch is a wooden two-story plus
hip roof Federal period house, whose entrance is the middle of the
five-bay facade on the north side. The entrance is in an enclosed
44-
porch trimmed with reeded corner pilasters and a dentil and modillion
i
DANIELS STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
cornice, all typical Federal details. The south wall of the house
towards the water is brick, and the foundation consists of heavy
granite slabs. Beyond the house in the back there is a large two-
story plus pitch roof addition which looms over the original building.
#37 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This two-story plus pitch roof.,clapboard house is hard to date; its
chimneys are gone, . its window sash has been changed, and its simple
entrance is hidden by a canopy. The house is gable end to the street.
Part of it could have been builft during the 1700 ' s or the early 1800 ' s .
The building has irregularly spaced windows and what appear to be some
skived clapboards, as well as a stone foundation - all of which make
it seem likely that it was built at least one hundred fifty years
ago. Beyond the house there is a pitch roof addition on the front
of which there is a two-story piazza.
#39 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof,,wooden house is gable end to the
street and faces south towards the harbor. It probably goes back to the
Federal or Greek Revival period, but the addition of a Victorian
entrance on the gable end and of a two-story piazza and outside
staircase around 1900 have altered its appearance.
DANIELS STREET COURT BEGINS.
#43 Daniels Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This handsome three-story plus hip roof hots e is in a very poor condi-
tion, but its architectural details have all survived, with the
exception of some replaced windows. It is covered with clapboards,
has a heavy molded cornice, and matching central entrance porches on
the north and south sides, each with fluted pilasters and finely
molded pediments. The house is on a handsome 1)high 5rough granite
foundation, and still has its two large chimneys. Once upon a time
the house had an unexcelled view of Salem harbor, but recently a shall
45.
DANIELS STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
house has been moved onto part of its frontage, which blocks part of
the view.
#45 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This small two-story plus pitch roof house is gable end to the street
,(right on the water. It has been moved to this location relatively
recently. Because of its location it is on a very high stone foundation
to protect it from the water no doubt. It is covered with two-tone
aluminum clapboards . The tntrance on the side which faces the water
is sheltered by a modern aluminum canopy, but appears to be in its
original location on what was probably once a three-bay facade.
DANIELS STREET - WEST SIDE
#2 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is a simple two-story plus pitch roof wooden house with its gable
end to the street. The entrance is on the gable end under a portico
which is a continuation of the roof of the three-window bay to which
it is adjacent. The house is belted at the second floor level and has
a wide projecting cornice under the eaves which continues across
the gable end.
#4 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof wooden (siding) house is set back from
and gable end to the street. The entrance in the middle of the south
side of the house now has later trim round it, but the pairs of
windows on either side of it are close together, which is a characteristic
of the pre-Federal period. The house has a long narrow addition on
the back end.
#6-8 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This large two-story plus pitch roof,wooden house has its gable end
on the street. On the north side, which has seven bays, the central
entrance has bold Greek Revival trim. The entrance on the gable end
is very simpleyup a later flight of stairs .
46.
n�
DANIELS STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
#8'k Daniels Street RATING: THREE: PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This building, well back from the street between #8 and #10 Daniels Street,
is an L-shaped,,,three-story,,, flat m ofdwooden building with a three-story,
outside staircase and piazzas at the angle of the ell.
#10 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINTE.
This three-story flat roofed, lwooden .house appears to be a triple decker
of the end of the 1800 ' s, but its recessed central front entrance is
trimmed with reeded pilasters and an entablature with a dentil cornice;
the house also has two old granite doorsteps. Either the house has been
old
totally remodeled, or the entrance came from another/house; it is not a
copy .
Between #10 and #12 Daniels Street there is a small garage.
#12 Daniels Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: 17th CENTURY.
This small two-story plus pitch roof and lean-to house dates from the
17th century when the portion nearest the street was built. It is gable
end to the stree and the entrance t, r nce is in the southern side. The house is
now basically L-shaped thanks to a later addition in the yard. The angle
of the ell is filled by a recent flat roofed addition.
The history of this house should be looked up.
#14 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This old three-story plus hip roof building directly on the street has been
much altered until it is barely recognizable as a Federal period house. It
has a four-bay facade on Daniels Street with two granite steps in front of
the entrance, which now is just a modern door; all the trim and style is
.gone. The old clapboards are now covered with siding; the windows are two-
s over-two, and a three-story piazza and outside staircase attached to a back
ell complete the disguise. Not long ago it had a very fine and unusual
And balustrade
staircase/ at least part of which has now been removed.
#16 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house faces Daniels Street.
47 .
DANIELS STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
It is a simple example of the Italianate style with paired brackets under
the eaves and a canopy supported by consoles over the front door which has
been replaced.
DERBY STREET CROSSES.
#26 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This large three-story flat roofed, .,wooden building is a multiple
family dwelling built around the turn of the century with details of the
Colonial Revival style, ite. , a molded pediment above the recess through
which the building is entered and molded lintels above the windows. The
overhanging cornice is trimmed with very simple modillions and a dentil
4
strip.
#28-30 Daniels Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The five-bay facade of this building is directly on the street and perhaps
once had a central entrance. The present very simple doorway is now at the
southern end of the facade and is not in any particular style. The building
has three stories plus a pitch roof; attached to the batik of the house on the
end nearest the harbor is a lean-to roof making it look like a salt-box.
The facade window sash has been replaced with two-over-two sash.
Between #26 and #28 Daniels Street there is a two-car,,cinder block
garage directly on the street, behind which is a tenement. (See #11
Kosciusko Street. )
#34 Daniels Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This three-story flat roofed, ywooden (siding) building is directly on the
street and has a central entrance with Victorian trim, up a narrow flight of
stairs. The building appears to be a multiple dwelling erected during the
latter part of the 1800 ' s.
Where #36 Daniels Street formerly stood there now is a parking lot.
#40 Daniels Street RATING: THREE PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER. _
This is another three-story flat roofed, multiple dwelling. The exterior
48.
DANIELS STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
is covered with siding and the building,with its entrance in the side yard,
faces Salem harbor.
49.
DANIELS STREET COURT - Even numbers
#2 Daniels Street Court (See #43 Daniels Street)
#4 Daniels Street Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This is a typical three-story flat roof, wooden,multiple dwelling
of the end of the 1800 ' s. It has a simple Victorian entrance on the
Court and three-storypiazza and stairway on the back which overlooks
y I
the harbor.
DANIELS STREET COURT - Odd numbers
#1 Daniels Street Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This two-story plus flat roof building, or so it looks from the street,
actually appears to have been a simple two-story plus pitch roof
building set back from the Court to which a flat roof addition has
been added on the front. There is no architectural trim to speak of
on which to base a date.
There is no #3 .
#5 Daniels Street Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This large two-story plus pitch roofwooden (shingles) building is
gable end to the Court and quite close to #7 . It is trimmed with very
simple Italianate brackets; the entrance is on its south side.
#7 Daniels Street Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is a two-story plus pitch roof wooden building covered with two
colors of siding. There is little of its trim evident now, but the
wooden strip under the eaves appears to be the entablature characteristic
of the Greek Revival style. The doorway is in the south side in a
modern enclosed entrance porch.
#9 Daniels Street Court RATING: TWO. PERIOD: CA. 1900.
This one-story,�pitch roof,3stucco building was built around the turn of
the century as a studio. Here Philip Little, the Salem artist, painted
many of the scenes which grace Salem homes and public buildings .
50.
DERBY STREET
It is rather difficult to discover the exact origins of Derby Street
because it was not all laid out at once. The major part of the street
seems to be accounted for in this note taken from the town records by
Felt: "March 8, 1762. A way of two poles wide to be allowed, from
Daniel ' s lane to Becket ' s lane. " The relative newness of the street,
however, does not mean that the area was inactive before 1762.
Perley believed that prior to the existence of Derby Street there was
an ancient way along the waterfront which was later discontinued, and
Phillips wrote that most of the first house lots in this part of town ran
from Essex Street to the harbor. The cross streets which led to houses
near the water existed in many cases before Derby Street; for example, the
House of Seven Gables and the Ship Anchor Tavern, which was near the water
at the end of English Street and which Bentley said, in 1804, had been
disused for about one hundred twenty years .
The development of the street was probably closely tied to the history
of the wharves near it. Long Wharf, or Union Wharf, at the end of Union
Street, was begun in the first half of the 1700 ' s, and although no mention
of the first beginning of the street to the wharf has been found by its
present name, Phillips ' Map of Salem in 1780 shows Whitefoot ' s Lane leading
to and beyond the old Union Wharf. Derby Wharf was begun by Captain Richard
Derby in 1762 which, coincidentally, is the same year in which the street
was continued as far as Becket Street. Bentley notes talk of extending
the street around 1791 and said curtly, "Ropewalk obstructs Derby Street
(extension) - detriment. " Later that same year it was extended.
During the heyday of Salem' s foreign commerce, from around the time of
the Revolution when privateers sailed out to harass the British to the 1820 ' s
when Salem' s trade began to decline because the harbor wasn' t deep enough
to accommodate the fast new clipper ships, Derby Street must have been a
very busy and exciting street where strange new objects were seen and
51.
DERBY STREET (continued)
smelled and strange tales of wild adventures repeated. It was a street
of wharves, houses and shops.
Bentley talks of many shops being built there during the latter part
of the 1790 ' s and early 1800 ' s; there were coopers ' shops, blacksmiths '
shops, Samuel Emery ' s Mathematical Instrument Shop (where perhaps he designed
the compass rose which may now be seen at the Peabody Museum) , Benjamin
Felt ' s block and pump store, a Bake House, a Bark House, a hatter' s shop,
Shoemaker ' s shop and a small Head House for spinning. One Jonathan Archer,
a tanner, barber and assessor, kept a tavern, boarding house and shipping
office on the street where he also taught navigation and mathematics -
a busy man. John Bicksler, a German, had a brewery at one end of the
street and a beer cellar near Union wharf where his sign showed a sailor
saying, "Brother sailors, walk down, here, and try a glass of my strong
beer. " Bentley was much impressed by the opening there of "a fish market,
the first covered one" he had ever seen. Hawthorne, writing of the
period when he was at the Custom House during the 1840 ' s, described the
street as one of shops; grocers, block-makers, slop-sellers, and ship
chandlers.
Closely related to sailing was shipbuilding, another waterfront
activity carried on in this area. Perhaps the most famous shipyard was
near Becket Street, where the Beckets built boats from 1655 to 1887; other
shipyards near by were Hawkes, Barker and Magoun and Briggs, who built
Derby ' s Grand Turk at the head of Derby Wharf.
Despite the fact that many of the old houses and shops have been
replaced by larger dwellings, the closeness of the buildings, the remaining
old structures, and the glimpses of old houses down the streets on either
side of Derby Street still convey a general impression of an old Salem street.
Certainly the Custom House, Derby House, Home for Aged Women and Derby
Wharf are one of the most impressive groups of buildings to be found anywhere
which relate to the early maritime history of this country.
52.
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE
(The following material about individual buildings on Derby Street
treats the buildings in the order in which the average Salemite and
tourist sees them from a car; i.e. , going towards the east in the direction
in which the traffic flows, hence the numbers are in descending rather than
in ascending order.)
#222-224-226 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: COLONIAL REVIVAL.
This three-story plus a flat roof, brick building is shaped to fit the
irregular size of the lot on which it is situated. It appears to have been
built around 1900 and features details popular during the Colonial Revival
period, such as splayed, keyed window lintels, quoined corners and a
wooden dentil cornice. The facade of the building is unbalanced and the
entrance is not central. The western narrow end of the building has a
large neon sign and billboard on it, under which a small-paned display
window and Federal type reproduction door have recently been installed.
#214-220 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: COLONIAL REVIVAL.
This two-story plus a flat roof, brick. building is similar to the preceding
builfling in style. The entire first floor, however, consists of shop
display windows.
UNION STREET CROSSES.
#206-212 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: COLONIAL REVIVAL.
This two-story plus a flat roof,brick building is similar to the two above
except for the slightly stepped wall at the top of the facade and the
double windows under rectangular Lintels. The first floor is lined with
store fronts, windows, aluminum doors, signs, etc.
#204 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This is presumably a small, modern one-story shop; however, it is impossible
to say with any accuracy what is underneath the new brown and pink shiny
siding which covers the building.
HERBERT STREET ENDS.
HODGES COURT ENDS. .
53 .
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
#188 .Derby Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
The so-called Simon Forrester House is one of the finest remaining on
Derby Street. Set far back from the street on a gentle terraced slope
rising from the shore, this three-story plus a steep-pitched hip roof
house was designed by McIntire. The five-bay facade with its central
pedimented entrance portico is typical of the period. The square supporting
columns are thought to be replacements of what were once, undoubtedly,
round columns . The house still has its original window sills and
c
original chimneys . A simple wooden fence encloses the large front yard
which contains many shrubs and a fruit tree.
According to Bentley, Simon Forrester came to Salem from Ireland when
he was a young man and was apprenticed to Captain Daniel Hawthorne on
Union Street (one of whose daughters he married.) He 3mught the "elegant
but unfinished House of Captain Jonathan Ingersoll, fronting Derby Street,
with the Cobb wharf and Store and Flatts" in 1791. In the year 1776
Forrester, who was then thirty years old, commanded the privateer Rover
and captured six English vessels. He later became a very successful
merchant, and it was he, or one of his sons, who gave the land at the corner of
Mall and Bridge Streets for the first Catholic Church in Salem. Bentley
also said that he gave "15 hundred Dollars to the Poor, to be given them for
a dinner annually from the interest at the discretion of the Overseers. "
This early McIntire house is similar to the Joshua Ward House, the
Peirce-Nichols and Boardman houses of the same early period in his career.
The splendid chimney piece from this house, displayed in the Essex Institute,
shows shome of the very fine carving which made McIntire famous.
#180 Derby Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a three-story plus hip roof, brick (Flemish bond) house with a
five-bay facade overlooking Derby Wharf. The splayed and reeded window
lintels are painted white. A flight of five granite steps takes one to
54.
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
the front door through its simple rectangular portico. Above the door
there is a semieliptical fanlight and sidelights on either side. On the
west side of the house there is a second simple, Federal style entrance
with a fanlight.
Inlaid in the bricks above the front entrance of the house there is
a brown stone with gold Letters which reads, "Home for Aged Women presented
by Robert Brookhou�se 1861. " The original house was much enlarged
away from the street in a very careful imitation of the original style of
the house in 1906 and 1916. The large yard west of the house was once
busier than it now looks . Curtis Street, which stops just short of the end
of the garden, formerly continued to Derby Street; on the west corner there
used to be a large three-story house very similar to #188 Derby Street.
In front of the house there was a small shop, which may be seen in a
picture at the Essex Institute. Now the yard is enclosed by an iron picket
fence, and serenity is offered by the opportunity to sit out in a long,
narrow covered colonnade.
#180 Derby Street was built in 1810-1812 for Benjamin W. Crowninshield,
whose father, George, lived 1= next door then in a house where the Custom
House now stands, and .whose brother Jacob lived nearby. One wonders how the
Crowninshields liked overlooking the success of the Derby 's wharf since they
had many bitter squabbles. Crowninshield, a member of this mercantile
fanily, was a member of Gongress and Secretary of the Navy under both
Madison and Monroe. Monroe is said to have stayed there for four days in
1817 and a banquet, given here in his honor, included such early American
heroes as Commodore Perry, Bainbridge and Judge Story.
The house was the home of General James Miller while he was in charge
of the Custom House. Miller was a hero of the War of 1812 for his action
during the now-forgotten Battle of Lundy'.s Lane, and it seems safe to
assume that this sinecure at the Custom House was a fitting reward for a
hero and perhaps a fitting reward for a supporter of Andrew Jackson.
55 .
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
#168 Derby Street THE SALEM MARITIME NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The Custom House, an imposing brick (Flemish bond) building, was erected
in 1819 and it was here that Nathaniel Hawthorne was Surveyor of the Port
from 1846 to 1849, where he is thought to have worked on the "Scarlet
Letter, " his first successful novel. Hawthorne, himself, described the
Custom House for us . "From the loftiest point of its roof, during precisely
three and a half hours of each forenoon, floats or droops, in breeze or calm,
the banner of the republic. . . (the building ' s) front is ornamented with a
portico of half a dozen wooden pillars, supporting a balcony, beneath
which a flight of wide granite steps descends towards the street. Over the
entrance hovers an enormous specimen of the American eagle, with outspread
wings, a shield before her breast, and, if I recollect aright, a bunch of
intermingled thunderbolts and barbed arrows in each claw. . . . "
Hawthorne also explained that the building was "intended to accommodate
a hoped-for increase in the commercial prosperity of this place _ - hopes
destined never to be realized - - and was built a world too large for any
necessary purpose, even at the time when India was a new region, and only
Salem knew the way thither. "
The Custom House is now open to the public, who may see the office where
Hawthorne worked and a display explaining some of the story of Salem' s trade.
Behind the Custom House is the small, brick Scale House which was built
in 1829 and houses some of the different types of scales and measures, whish
were used by customs officers to assess cargoes and the duties owed. This
building has recently been openedto the public.
THE HAWSES HOUSE. This large, three-story plus hip roof, wooden house
was begun by Elias Hasket Derby in 1780 . Bentley wrote, "Mr. Derby raised
a Great House which he never finished. . .a monument of folly. . . . " Derby
decided to move instead to a large house on Washington Street. In 1790
Bentley noted that Derby "is making large preparations at the unfinished
56.
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
House near the Wharf, for a commodious Shed, Saw pit & work yard, for his
Ship Building. " The house, which had been planned by McIntire, was finally
bought by the shipbuilder, Benjamin Hawkes, and completed about 1801. This
house is not open to the public.
THE RICHARD DERBY HOUSE. The Richard Derby house is the oldest brick
house in Salem. It has two stories plus a gambrel roof, and is an excellent
example of its period with a fine pedimented entrance, segmental arches above
the broad windows and string courses, a cornice and water table of molded
bricks . The house was built in 1761 by Captain Richard Derby for his son,
Elias, who became one of the most successful American merchants . It was also
at one time the home of Henry Prince, sea captain and merchant, with whom
Bowditch sailed as supercargo. The house is open to the public.
THE RUM SHOP. This simple, two-story plus a pitch roof, wooden building
was moved to this location from the head of Derby Wharf where it served as
a sailor ' s tavern during the early 1800 ' s . It is now an antique shop.
National
Naturally, the/Park Service which administers these buildings has far
more information about them than is presented in the above outline.
PALFREY COURT BEGINS.
#158-162 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: 1909.
A sign sunk in the facade of this very large, rectangular three-story brick
building announces that it is St. Joseph Hall, built in 1909. The facade
of the flat-roofed structure has three bays separated by four flat brick
pilaster strips, and the very large windows are topped by segmental brick arches
and have rough granite sills .
#156 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This simple, two-story plus a pitch roof, house is gable end to the street
and has a fanlight in the gable. The building, now used for a cafe and
recently rehabilitated in the "Colonial" style, has a simple reproduction,
pedimented entrance, shingles over the old clapboards and a narrow, flat-
57.
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
roofed addition on its west side. Its wooden, painted sign, hung on an
iron scroll, reads "Derby Cafe. "
#154-152 Derby Street, where there was formerly a house, is now a
parking area.
DANIELS STREET CROSSES.
#148 Derby Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: 1900 ' s
This small, one-story brick building has a flat roof and is squeezed in
on the corner between the houses on either side. It has a neon sign
projecting over the sidewalk.
$142-144-146 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This large, two-story plus pitch roof, wooden building with heavy over-
hanging eaves faces the street. The ground floor is now turned into shops
so no architectural details remain on which to base its age.
#140 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This small, two-story plus pitch roof house has its gable end on the street
and is entered through what is now a very narrow side yard; it was undoubtedly
there before either of its neighbors and once had a larger side garden. The
gable-end, first-floor windows have been made high and wide, presumeably to
gain interior privacy. The entrance is now hidden from view, and the house
has three television aerials on the roof.
#138 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
It is most difficult to rate and date this house which is well back from the
street and hidden behind two buildings. It appears to be a two-story plus
a pitch roof, clapboard house facing the street with a simple central
entrance. The entrance has a Greek Revival style, five-sided lintel above
it and narrow, half sidelights on either side. The closeness of the house
to the ground and the windows to the eaves suggests that the house precedes
its Greek Revival entrance. The Atlas shows a rear addition.
58.
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
#1362 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: 1900 ' s
This is a two-story, flat roof, narrow building with a barber shop on the
first floor.
#136 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is less altered than many of the buildings on Derby Street. It is a
two-story plus a gambrel roof, wooden house with its narrow end on the
street. The facade in the west yard is balanced with five bays and a
central front entrance which has been covered with Italianate trim.
#130-1342 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINSTE.
This house has obviously been much altered over the years . Now visible from
the street is a stucco first floor with three severe, recessed entrances
and above that a very narrow piazza partly enclosed and partly surrounded
with an interesting railing, which is rather Chinese Chippendale in
character, and may actually once have served as part of a widow' s walk.
Behind this facade there is a simple, two-story plus a pitch roof, wooden
building which is probably Federal in origin.
BENTLEY STREET CROSSES.
The Reliance Fire hawse stood for many years on the northeast corner of
Bentley and Derby Streets until it was demolished a year or two ago.
#126 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD:. FOURTH QUARTER.
This small, one=story, flat roof shop has a high, fake, flat-topped front
and store windows on either side of its typical recessed door. It is not
on the 1874 Atlas .
HARDY STREET CROSSES .
#122 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This one-story plus a pitch roof, wooden shop has its gable end on the
street. It is an example of a simple shop of bygone days, which is now
nearly extinct. The building is shown on the 1874 Atlas, minus an addition
at one side. The basic building has not been greatly altered on the outside.
59.
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
#118 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
This is a two-story plus a pitch roof, clapboard house with its gable
end to the street. The entrance, which now has Victorian trim, is in the
middle of what was once a five-bay, balanced facade on the west side of the
house. There is a small, one-story pitch roof addition behind the house.
#114 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
. This three-story plus a hip roof, brick (Flemish bond) house was built in
1806-07 for Captain Joseph Waters. It has had many alterations over the
years, but its basic character and style are still very evident. It has
a balanced five-bay facade with a central entrance portico and double-keyed
window lintels . The third-floor windows have been blocked up and those on
the second floor elongated. Early photographs reveal its former appearance.
Bentley wrote in 1805 that "Captain Joseph Waters has bought at
4010 D . (ollars) the Dean Estate on Derby ' s street, corner of Turner' s Street,
No. side of Derby street. It was the best House to appearance which was in
that part of Town when I came to Salem & had the best gardens around it. It
is much decayed & has been long neglected. " Waters, who superintended the
building of the Frigate Essex (See Brown Street) in 1799 soon tore down the
old house, evidently, and built the new brick one. Old Naumkeag reports
that the builder was Penn Townsend, but no other book mentions this fact.
In 1877 Salem' s benefactor, Captain John Bertram, founded the Home for
Aged Men in the large house, and there it remained until it removed to the
Common. The Sons of Poland took over the house in 1929 and in 1967 the House
of Seven Gables Settlement Association bought it.
TURNER STREET CROSSES.
#110-112 Derby Street (See #31 Turner Street. )
#106 Derby Street
This small, modern, one-story wooden building is set far back from the
street . It is the home of the John Franco Ukrainian Society.
60.
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
#104 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This one-story plus a gambrel roof house is about as big as a minute and
as cute. It is wooden, covered with siding, and has three windows in its
narrow end directly on the street. The entrance, which is later in style
than the house, is in a small addition at one side.
#102 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a simple, two-story plus a pitch roof, wooden (siding) house with
its gable end to the street. The house has a high brick foundation and may
have been raised or moved to this location. Architectural details are few.
The simple entrance is .in an ell on the east side of the house.
#100 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
It is hard to guess the age of this building because it has no original
exterior details to speak of; the old clapboards have been replaced, windows
appear to have been moved and altered, and there is a shop entrance on
the corner. However, its general shape and height, a two-story plus pitch
roof building with its gable end on Derby Street, suggest that it may go
back as far as the Federal period. It is not incompatible with the area.
CARLTON STREET ENDS.
#98 Derby Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This was once a fine, three-story plus a hip roof, brick (Flemish bond)
house with all the Federal period details. But many years ago it was
converted into a bakery, and since that time a one-story brick addition
has been added to the Derby Street facade with piazzas above; a triple
decker has also been attached to the eastern end of the house.
The careful observer may still see, however, the molded brick cornice,
splayed reeded window lintels and, on the west end, one original entrance
topped by a semicircular fanlight, all similar to details found onthe
Common and Chestnut Street houses. A picture at the Essex Institute shows
the building when it was first being altered; the main entrance with its
61.
DERBY STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
fine portico was still visible at that time.
This house is rated high because it is said to have been the birthplace
of General Frederick Townsend Ward. Ward, the descendent of one of the
first families in Salem, first went to sea when he was fifteen. After a
few years, during which he rose to positions of authority aboard his ships,
he joined forces for a brief time with William Walker in a misadventure in
Nicaragua. He is next thought to have gone to Mexico and then fought in
the Crimean War in the French Army. It is certain, at least, that he was
a rolling stone acid a soldier of fortune. In 1859 he landed in Shanghai,
where for eight years the Chinese Emperor had been trying to put down the Tai-
ping Rebellion. Ward, now twenty-seven years old, soon offered (for a
price) to form a small army of men to capture the rebel stronghold. He
succeeded in this first venture and soon formed the "Ever Victorious Army, "
a well-drilled force of one thousand men, which continued to carry the
battle to the rebels until 1862, when he was killed by an enemy bullet
during an attack. After this, the perhaps more famous Englishman,
"Chinese" Gordon, was placed in command of Ward ' s army. Ward was buried
with pomp in a temple built in his honor in China, and until the Japanese
invasions of China during the 1930 ' s incense was burned before his grave
each day. There are many exciting books about this soldier of fortune
who was born in this house; this outline presents merely the briefest
account of his adventures.
The house in which he was born in 1831 was built by his grandfather,
Captain Moses Townsend, about 1805 . The Captain was a shipmaster and later
the President of the Union Marine Insurance Company. Some relics connected
with General Ward may be seen at the Essex Institute.
62.
DERBY STREET - SOUTH SIDE
CENTRAL WHARF. This was formerly Forrester' s Wharf; Bentley referred
to it as new in 1792. (See also # 188 Derby Street. ) It was the place of
business for John Bertram and his partners from 1840-59. (See also
Winter Street and the Public Library. ) It is now the United States Naval
Reserve Training Center.
The present inimpeded view of the water fr=Derby Street didn' t exist
in the old days . Early pictures show the wharves covered with stores and
warehouses and there were shops on the street. The only remaining old
structure in front of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site is the
unnumbered building used by the United States Naval Reserve Training
Center at the head of Central Wharf, formerly Forrester' s Wharf. It is
a long, two-story plus a pitch roof, frame building which, accordin9 to the
sign in front, was built before 1832 and was repaired in 1948. It is thought
that it may have been put up by Mr. Forrester.
DERBY WHARF. Captain Richard Derby began his wharf, which is now
nearly 2000 feet long, about 1762. During the Revolution it was used by his
son, Elias Hasket Derby, as a base for outfitting privateers. When the
Revolution was over it was here that the Derby vessels tied up between their
long voyages to the East Indies and China, the Baltic Sea, Africa, Australia
and South America. The wharf was enlarged in 1784 and again in 1789.
Bentley noted in 1807, "The Derby wharf after the great expenses, not proving
secure it was concluded to settle piles on the outer part of the stone work.
But by driving, they have not at a great distance found solid bottom. "
Three years later he wrote, " . . .busy in repairing the sunken part of the
Derby wharf. It had sunk several feet after it had been filled up. Mr.
Fogg has undertaken. "
Hawthorne, writing of the wharf, said, "In my native town of Salem,
(there is) what a century ago, in the days of old King Derby, was a bustling
wharf, - but which is now burdened with decayed wooden warehouses, and
exhibits few or no symptoms of commercial life, except, perhaps, a bark
63 .
DERBY STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
or brig, halfway down its melancholy length, discharging hides; or nearer
at hand a Nova Scotia schooner, pitching out her cargo of firewood. . . . "
The wharf is now part of the Salem National Maritime Historic Site
and will probably once again become an active place this summer for the
first time in many years . Simple facilities for boating enthusiasts are
expected to be completed by the summer of 1968; the harbor has also been
dredged.
#159 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL (x)
It is hard to know anything about this house since so much of the original
exterior has been covered with siding, new windows and additions. Basically,
however, it is a two-story plus a pitch roof, wooden house, gable end to the
street. The high brick foundation suggests that it has been raised or
moved. The side towards Kosciusko Street has been extended so the
building is no longer symmetrical. The entrance on the gable end has a
molded pediment and wide transom overhead and simple pilastersoneither
side.
KOSCIUSKO STREET BEGINS.
#155-57 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is a four-story plus a flat roof, multiple dwelling in the Colonial
Revival style that was often turned out in a stereotyped fashion at the
end of the last century. To the west, a one-story addition has been built
on to make space for a first-floor store with large plate glass windows.
#149-153 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This large, four-story, wooden building appears to have been built by the
same person who built#155-157 since all the trim and other features are
identical.
#143 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This house was once a simple, two-story plus a pitch roof, wooden house,
probably dating from the Federal period, with an entrance on one side or
64.
DERBY STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
the other. Now the entrance is in a projecting one-story-high narrow .
addition on the gable or street end with modern windows on either side,
and there is another addition to one side. The house is covered with
siding.
#137 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This large, three-story plus flat roof building has not been altered so
that one can see that some pains were taken to make it blend in with
the Federal period. It has an entrance portico with fluted columns and a
dentil cornice; it is belted with dentil strips at the second and third-
floor levels, as well as at the roofline. It has a three-story-high,
three-sided bay at one side of the entrance.
#135 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This house must once have been a twin of #137, but now it' s been built
out at the front on the first-floor level and the portico is gone.
#131 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is the first of several three-story, flat roof triple deckers
which were built around the late 1800 ' s. This one is covered with siding
and has few architectural details.
#127 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a two-story plus a gambrel roof, wooden (siding) house with its
narrow end on the street. The entrance, which is not original, is now at one
side in a small addition, and there is a large shop window on the street.
#125 Derby Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This solid, three-story plus a hip roof house has suffered from little or
no alteration since it was built by Captain Edward Allen in 1768. Its large,
square central chimney, quoined corners and enclosed pedimented entrance
porch are all typical features of an old Salem house. Captain Allen came
to this country in 1757, married a Hodges girl, and evidently was a
successful man by 1768 when he built the house. Bentley notes many small
65 .
DERBY STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
maintenance jobs being done on the house, such as "Allen painting his
House" in 1791; "Captain Allen has covered the roof of his house & store. . .
with Tar intermixed with a fine gravel" in 1789; and in 1788, " . . .windy day. . .
destroyed the Turret upon the house of Captain Allen. "
HARDY STREET CROSSES.
#119-123 was a large triple decker which was demolished this
year to create additional parking space behind the House of Seven Gables .
#117 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is very similar to other buildings on this street; i.e. , it is a
three-story plus a flat roof, multiple dwelling with its narrow end on the
street. The Victorian console trim entrance is on the street end; beside
it there is a three-sided bay extending up to the roof. The cornice is
wooden and the house is covered with siding.
#115-111 Derby' Street. These houses have also been torn down
recently to be turned into parking spaces.
TURNER STREET CROSSES.
(See #33 Turner Street. )
#109 Derby Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This small, two-story plus a gambrel roof, wooden (shingle) house has its
narrow end on the street and a square chimney. It has been much altered
since it was first built; i.e. , additions have been made, windows changed,
and the entrance has been moved from its original site from one side or
the other to the narrow end.
#105 Derby Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This house is rated high because it remains as it was built - an excellent
example of the small house of the Greek Revival period. The gable end is
on the street with the gable pediment clearly defined, a wide entablature, and
a doorway framed with typical Greek Revival trim. There is an ell attached
to the back of this house and there is a nice, small enclosed yard.
66.
DERBY STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
#101 Derby Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This small, two-story plus a gambrel roof house faces the street. It once
had a three-bay facade with a simple Greek Revival style entrance at the
eastern end altered at a later date. This house had been converted into
a shop and was sagging in all directions until this winter when it was
bought. It is now being rehabilitated with emphasis on saving all its old
features . The house has a lean-to roof in the back where an ea11y addition
appears to have been made.
#99Derby Street is a modern, one-story store crowded in between
#101 and #97 .
#97 Derby Street RATING: . TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a large, three-story plus a pitch roof, wooden house overlooking
the street and directly on the sidewalk. It has a low, stone foundation,
nice granite doorstep and a central entrance in the middle of its five-bay
facade. The original entrance trim appears to have been replaced around
1830 when the typical, simple pilastered Greek Revival trim was installed.
WHITE STREET BEGINS.
67 .
ESSEX STREET. (See also the Old Town Hall District and Historic
District West. )
Essex Street is a "long and lazy street lounging wearisomely
through the whole extent of the peninsula with Gallows Hill and New
Guinea at one end, and a view of the almshouse at the other. "
wrote Hawthorne in the introduction to The Scarlet Letter, but despite
his somber description of it, he went on to write, "This old town of
Salem - my native place, though I have dwelt much away from it, both
in boyhood and maturer years - possesses, or did possess, a hold on
my affections, the force of which I have never realized, during my
seasons of actual residence here. "
Essex Street and Washington Street are the two oldest main
thoroughfares in Salem. Bentley, writing daily about happenings in
his neighborhood, mentioned the street very often. When he first
came to Salem in the 1780 ' s he usually called it either Bow Street
or the street leading to the Neck, and Bow Street is also what the
1773 Committee Report of street names in Felt ' s Annals called it.
Gilbert Streeter, writing in the Essex Institute Historic Collections
in .1896, said it was called Bow Street because it followed a curved ridge
of sand from which the land sloped away to the water on either side.
A glance at Saunders ' 1820 Map shows that this is probably an
accurate assumption. Perley believed that the street was probably
a path used by Indians before Salem was settled.
Within a few years after the founding of Salem it must have
become a regularly used street; it was the only way to get to Winter
Island and the Neck, to the ferries to both Beverly and Marblehead,
and to the blockhouse and forest on the Neck. It did not take many
years for Salem' s first citizens to move to lower Essex Street.
Now demolished, the old Gerrish House near the corner of Forrester
and Essex Streets was built by Nicholas Bartlett in 1644. Philip
68 .
ESSEX STREET (continued)
English' s great mansion, whence Mrs. English was taken to jail as
an accused witch, was near the corner of English Street, and the
Hollingsworth House, or Blue Anchor Tavern, was south of that. The
Murray house on the corner of Essex and Turner Street, the Narbonne
House, and the Daniels House were all built during the 1600 ' s, and are
visible reminders of the early development of Salem and its rapid
growth away from the center of town along the waterfronts from which
most of its citizens derived their livelihoods.
By the late 1700 ' s it must have been a very busy scene with
big and small houses, shops and workshops of all kinds, ropewalks,
malthouses, etc. Bentley often called it the "Great Street. " .The
names of his neighbors which keep appearing and reappearing in his
Diary are almost all connected with the maritime development of
Salem. This must have been a noisy, busy street, and even at times
disorderly. Bentley wrote in 1791 that "The Overseers (of the poor)
. . . ordered into confinement the infamous family of Burke. . . The
G. G. Mother, G. Mother, Mother & children, who long near the
Neckgate have been infamous for all the vices. "
Like any main street, it has been the scene of many important
local events . During the summer of 1774, on August 24 Governor Gage
ordered a Regiment of Red Coats stationed on the Neck to march to
Town House Square to disperse a Town Meeting where freeholders were
choosing delegates to a county convention; the tr000ps marched up
Essex Street as far as Hawthorne Boulevard only to find that the
meeting had chosen its delegates and adjourned.
This end of Essex Street seems to have been very clannish and
stable. The name of Silsbee is connected with many of the houses on
the street as well as with houses on Daniels Street. The very large
Hodges family also lived in many of the houses on the street; there
69.
ESSEX STREET (continued) :
were six Hodges brothers noted for their great heighth. Philips
wrote that " . . .when the shortest of six brothers was captured by a .
British frigate and his size remarked upon (he was six feet six) , he
replied that he was the shortest of six brothers. "
Other familiar old Salem names connected with tha street are
Andrews, Very, C=wninshield, Babbidge, Webb, Gray, Manning, Archer,
Cheever and Masury. One unfortunate soul who lived on the north side
" Lambert who died of small ox here abt.
of the street was old W. (who) P
' 70 or '80 . - he caught it from air blowing from M'head ferry
40 or 50 caught it of him and died. "
70.
ESSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE
Carlton Street begins .
#33 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This large, wooden two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house is gable
end to the street and rests on a high stone foundation. The entrance
is on Essex Street in the middle of the five-bay gable end of the
house, and has a typical Greek Revival style window treatment around
the doorway. The Victorian consoles at the entrance appear to be a
later addition and are very similar to some on Carlton Street.
#35 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL (?)
This is a two-story wooden (siding) house with a so-called "Dutch" ,
gambrel roof that is not common in Salem. The lower slope of a Dutch
gambrel roof curves out at the bottom, instead of slanting in a
straight line. The doorway is in the side yard and is trimmed with
pilasters and a dentiled cornice. There is an ell attached to the
rear of the house and a cinder block garage in the yard. Three
dormer windows provide light on the top floor; all the window openings
in this house are small.
#37 Essex Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This three-story oblong house has a flat roof and appears to be a typical
triple decker. It has simple brackets under the eaves as its only
ornamentation. The wooden house is now covered with siding.
TURNER STREET BEGINS.
#39 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: 17th CENTURY.
Despite many alterations and two colors of siding, which is hardly
appropriate on a house of this vintage, this building is rated number
ONE because it dates from the seventeenth century, and hence is one
of a small number of such buildings in New England. Its outstanding
exterior feature is its very steep pitched roof which is evident from
Essex Street and which may be compared with the more usual pitch roof
on the back half of the house; it seems likely that the back half
71.
tSSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
was raised at one time to give added room to the third floor.
The house is a two-story plus pitch roof building with its
gable end on Essex Street; long and narrow, it runs parallel to
Turner Street. The fron' end of the building is now used as a shop
and has large store windows. Some of the other two-over-two windows
are now being replaced with six-over-six sashes . The simple entrance
to the house is in the west yard.
The building is known as the "Murray House" and was built
during the latter part of the 1600 ' s . It was built by William
Murray and stayed in his family until 1795. Inside on the first floor
there is one very handsome carved post visible at the present time.
#41 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is a typical, simple two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house
with its gable end to the street. The entrance, trimmed with pilasters,
is in the middle of the five-bay western side of the house. The
chimneys of this house have been removed.
#43 Essex Street
A filling station has replaced the old building which stood on this
locationand was known as the Zachariah White house. It was built by
John Day during the 1700 ' s and seems to have been the Crown Tavern at
one time.
HARDY STREET BEGINS.
#45 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is another excellent example of a Greek Revival. house of the
relatively simple type. It is a two-story plus pitch roof, wooden
house with its gable end on the street; the recessed entrance is at
one side of the three-bay gable end and is trimmed with pilasters.
The wide wooden entablature was a favorite device of the Greek
Revival builder.
Bentley ' s East Meeting House occupied this corner from 1718 until
72.
�s
ESSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
it was demolished in the 1800 ' s .
#47 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This narrow two-story plus pitch roof, wooden building is in the
Italianate style and has details typical of the style, which include
brackets and pendants under the eaves, hood moldings above the
windows, an entrance trimmed with ornate carvings and a bay window
above.
BENTLEY STREET BEGINS.
#49-51 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
The wide entablature under the eaves of this two-story plus pitch
roof, wooden (siding) house identifies it as having been built in
the Greek Revival style. The original, indented, central doorway on
the gable or street end has been altered by the addition of heavy
brackets supporting the roof overhead and a bay window above. The
house is a wide one.
#53 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL (?)
This is a simple, two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house
with its gable end on the street. The entrance is on the long west side
of the house and is hidden under a covered modern porch. The house is
on a high brick foundation which is probably not original.
The Daniels House. See #1 D9niels Street.
DANIELS STREET BEGINS.
#59 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : PRE-FtDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roof, wooden (siding) house has been
subjected to much remodeling over the years. It was built .about
1750-60 by Edmund Whittemore, . a carpenter, according to the manuscript
list of Salem Estates and Localities at the Essex Institute. The
recessed entrance on Essex Street and the siding and removal of the
original chimneys are among the most noticeable changes. Inside
there is a fine box staircase with typical pre-Federal balusters .
73•
ESSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
#65 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This small one-story plus Mansard roof, wooden house is in the Italianate
style; it rests on a high granite foundation and is irregularly shaped.
Other details which were popular during this period include the carved
brackets and trim under the eaves, the pedimented dormers, and bay
window. The house is scaled to fit well on its small lot and also
to blend with the earlier houses which are more usual along Essex
Street.
Thomas Beadle ' s old Tavern stood on this location until it was
demolished in 1866.
#65z-67 Essex Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This house is a triple decker; it appears to be a typical multiple
family dwelling with few architectural details and was probably built
about 1900 . It is a three-story wooden building on a high brick
foundation and has a flat roof. The recessed double entrance is in
the center of the facade and there is a two-story bay window west of
it.
This was the location of Captain Andrew Preston 's house, and
Robert Rantoul, his grandson, recalled having stood there at a window
to see a cannon fired by the Common in 1781 when news that Cornwallis
had surrendered was broug?nt to Salem.
#67Z Essex Street RATING: TWO, PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof house is in the yard of #69 Essex Street
and has its gable end towards the street. The entrance at one side of
the gable end has typical Greek Revival details. The house is L-shaped
and the view from the west side shows a very unusual gambrel roof,
which suggests that the house, or parts of it, may actually be older
than the Greek Revival trim suggests. A picture of the house in the
Essex Institute files states that it was built by Moses T. Upton,
whose family owned the house nearer the street, now #69.
74•
ESSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
#69 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: 17th CENTURY.
Although this house, with a shop in the gable end on Essex Street,
does not seem similar to the Narbonne House next door, part of it was
built during the same period. It is believed that the half of the
house furthest away from the street was built by Samuel Robinson,
a baker, then sold to Michael Chapleman, seaman, in 1669. Nathaniel
Silsbee, Jr. , a house carpenter, bought it in 1700. It remained in
the Silsbee family for nearly one hundred years . Nathaniel Silsbee,
United States Senator from 1826 to 1835, was supposedly born there
in 1773 .
The house has two stories plus a pitch roof and is very long and
narrow with its gable end on the street. Its length makes it easy
to believe that half of the house was added to an already existing house
at some time. The list of houses in Salem around 1800 says, "Silsbee
House back from the street" in reference to this location. Bentley ' s
note in 1790 that "Silsbee near the meeting house raised a frame
adjoining to his Store & Dwelling House" may indicate when the newer
or street half was added.
#71 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: 17th CENTURY.
This fine 17th Century house has long been known in Salem and has
recently been acquired by the National Park Service which plans
eventually to put it in condition and open it to the public as part of
the National Maritime Historic Site on Derby Street. The yard of this
house and that of the Richard Derby house have a common boundary.
The house, like others in Salem, consists of an original building,
the two-story plus very steep pitch roof portion with its gable end
on Essex Street, a gambrel roof addition beyond in the yard, and a
lean-to behind the original house. The early so-called half-house
with an enormous chimney at one end was easily enlarged by adding
75.
ESSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
rooms as they did in this case around the large chimney for the
necessary additional fireplaces . This is a more simple 17th Century
house than Salem' s famous House of Seven Gables, and Witch Huse, but
it shows the growth of such a house and has had very few changes made
in it.
The house was built around 1670 and has been the home of fisher-
men, mariners and ship joiners. By the 1800 ' s it belonged to John
Andrew, whose niece, Mrs. Narbonne, inherited it. There is a Narbonne
School in California named for one of their early New England settler
ancestors who was a member of this family.
#73 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This two-story plus gambrel roof, wooden house is L-shaped and has
one narrow end on the street. The house was built during the mid
1700 ' s by one of the large Hodges family. The answer to which Hodges
lived where and when on this part of Essex Street will require research
since they lived in various houses up and down the street. - The 1800
list says that it was built by Captain Joseph Hodges.
The house has been changed somewhat, but it still has many of its
early characteristics, including molded window pediments above the
windows.
It seems probable that the house was raised on a new high foundation
at one time, and that the location of the entrance withidi the portico
is a later change also.
#81 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD : PRE-FEDERAL.
This two-story plus gambrel roof, wooden house faces Essex Street
with all the confidence of a handsome house which has needed no changes
to be stylish. It has a particularly fine cornice under the eaves and
a handsome central entrance of the Federal period, obviously a change
which took place many, many years ago. The house originally had typical
76.
ESSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
cap moldings above the windows, which were probably replaced as a
necessity; one original window may still be seen in what is now an
inside attic partition. There is a small two-story ell behind the
house on Orange Street which probably was added to the house shortly
after it was built, or may have been original. A second early L-shaped
dependency is attached to the eastern portion of the house, which makes
the whole structure roughly U-shaped.
This house, like #73, was also built by a member of the Hodges
family. The 1800 list says that it was built by Benjamin Hodges, Esq.
ORANGE STREET BEGINS.
#83-85 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This large, two-story plus Mansard roof, double house was built on
the site of Captain Joseph white ' s house after it was moved back to
#3 Curtis Street. It has three-sided balanced bays on either side
of the front portico and paired entrances. There are arched windows
in the gables above the bays and a balustrade on top of the portico.
Simple scroll carving decorates the second-story windows. The house
is on a high foundation. and the entrances are up a flight of granite steps.
CURTIS STREET BEGINS.
#91 Essex Street RATING: TWO, PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house appears to be a simple
example of the architecture of the third quarter of the 19th century,
and is in the 1874 Atlas . It has a small modillioned cornice under the
eaves, simple window lintels and is irregular in shape. A three-sided,
two-story bay projects from the northwest corner of the house and a
second three-sided ell juts out on the opposite corner. The entrance
to the house is on Curtis Street .
#95 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This complex, two-story plus gambrel roof, wooden house shows signs
77.
ESSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
of changes and growth during the years and still it retains the
major characteristics of a Salem house of the 1700 ' s. Like #' s 81
and 83 Essex Street it seems to have been a Hodges ' home for many
years .
HODGES COURT BEGINS.
#97 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This simple two-story plus a gambrel roof, wooden house faces Essex
Street. The front entrance in the middle of the five-bay facade
is now double; presumeably this was not always the case. Two of the
side windows still have the characteristic pre-Federal crown molding
lintels which have not had to be replaced. Behind the house there is
a small two-story plus gambrel roof ell and a further addition beyond
that.
This may be the house which is listed as belonging to Captain
Benjamin Bates in the 1800 list; the date given for the house is
about 1770.
#99 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
Although this house is similar in shape and size to #97, it is definitely
a house of the Greek Revival period. It has two stories plus a pitch
roof and has a five-bay facade on Essex Street. The central recessed
entrance has typical Greek Revival details including pilasters and a
five-sided lintel above. The house also has a characteristic wide
entablature under the eaves.
HERBERT STREET BEGINS.
Between Herbert and Union Streets there is now a parking
space used by the patrons of the Hawthorne Motor Hotel. Abraham
Watson who kept the schoolhouse across Union Street once lived here.
UNION STREET BEGINS.
#105-107 Essex Street. (See # ' s 2, 4, 6 and 8 Union Street. )
78.
ESSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
#109 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This three-story framebuilding on the corner of Essex Street and
Hawthorne Boulevard appears to have been much altered. The roof is
not typical, and the store front on Essex Street which is divided by
pilasters appears to have been installed during the Colonial Revival
period. Whether the bold pediments above the windows and cornice
under the eaves were installed at the same time is unknown; they are
very handsome and quite unique.
Whether this is a remodeled old house or not is unknown, but
it is the site of a house where " . . .Col. Turner ' s widow lived •*• -
her son Habakkuk kept an apothecary Shop in it - Edward Gibaut took
it after Mrs . Turner' s death. (Gibaut was a great friend of Bentley ' s:)
At his death Dr. Holyoke removed there, kept the shop til he married
when he removed to the old Lindall house. . . . .. This material is in
the 1800 list at the Essex Institute.
HAWTHORNE BOULEVARD BEGINS.
#121-123 Essex Street (See #2 Hawthorne Boulevard, of which
this small simple shop is a part. ) .
#125 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This simple, two-story plus a gambrel roof., wooden house is gable
end to the street and remarkable in that it is the only remaining
wooden gambrel roof house left on what is known as downtown Essex
Street. The house has been altered and now has a recessed entrance
on the gable end instead of one on either of the long sides of the
building. There is a fanlight in the third story of the gable end.
#127 Essex Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: 20th CENTURY.
This one-story, flat roofed row of shops was built about thirty
years ago.
#129 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
79•
ESSEX STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
This large three-story plus hip roof, brick (Flemish bond) mansion
was designed by Samuel McIntire for Gideon Tucker in 1809. Tucker
was a partner of Joseph Peabody, one of Salem' s most successful
merchants during the 1800 ' s. All of the bills connected with its
building are contained in the Tucker papers at the Essex Institute,
and the original front portico is now attached to the back of the
main building of the Essex Institute. The building has been altered
from time to time, but its five-bay facade still has much of the
flavor of a Federal mansion. The building belonged to the Father
Matthew Catholic Total Abstinence Society from 1896 until the middle
of the twentieth century.
#131 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Although the facade of this large, three-story plus a hip roof
mansion is now hidden behind a later commercial addition, from the
sides and back it is plain that the house is a Federal period mansion
similar to #129. It was built in 1807 for Moses Little and is thought
to have been designed by Samuel McIntire. After Little ' s death
it was bought by Simon Forrester for his daughter and her husband,
Gideon Barstow.
80.
ESSEX STREET - NORTH SIDE
The list compiled around 1800 of Salem Estates and Localities, which
is at the Essex Institute, does not help to identify many buildings on
the northern side of Essex Street; so many of the old buildings have been
demolished to provide parking spaces and public schools that it is not
possible without further research to discover who lived where on the
list.
#502 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: 1850 ' s
The Gardner Maynard Jones Memorial Library occupies what was once the
Bentley School. The old brick schoolhouse was remodeled a few years ago
and made into a one-story building for the East Branch Library. It is
set back from the street and has five large windows on the street side.
The simple entrance is on the west side of the building. The conversion
of the building was done with respect for its original architectural
details.
At this point it seems worth mentioning that east of the library
and back from the street, hidden behind a twentieth century store, is
half of the so-called Babbidge House, which was bought by Richard Derby
for his daughter, Mary, when she married George Crowninshield in 1757.
Earlier writers usually state that the house dates from the 17th century,
but the present exterior strongly suggests that the old house was torn
down and a new one built at that time. Half Jthe house was separated
and moved to Grant Street (now Kosciusko Street) when the house was moved
back from the street to make room for the present building. It is
impossible to identify the removed half, if it does, in fact, still exist.
This house is not within the district.
#52 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a fine three-story plus a pitch roof, wooden house wifh brick
ends which faces Essex Street. It has a handsome, enclosed pedimented
entrance porch trimmed with a modillioned cornice and fluted pilasters .
81.
ESSEX STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
It is interesting to notice that there are no windows on the east side
of the house; whether this was because there was alreadybuild '
a building very
close to that side of the house when it was built or to minimize the
effect of cold east breezes is open to conjecture.
The house is known as the Sage-Webb-Wilkins House. Daniel Sage
lived there for a time until he died, after which Benjamin Webb, an
apothecary, bought the house - Benjamin 's shop was down the street in
1805 nearly opposite Herbert Street. According to Browne, one' William
Webb opened an apothecary shop in 1823 in the hip roof building just
been
west of this house. The relationship is not known, but must have/very
close.
#54 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus a steep hip roof, wooden building has its narrow end
on the street. It is a simple building with a shop on the first floor;
the rest of it appears to have had very few alterations made in its
original design.
This building seems to have been a shop for many years . It was Webb' s
Apothecary Store during the early 1800 ' s and was a cent store later. Some
of the other early shops in this general vicinity were Captain Manning ' s
Gunsmith Shop and "shops belonging to W(illiam) G(ray) . . . painters and
barbers - the chamber was called poplar Hall - people used to meet here -
poplar chairs made here. " The latter quote is taken from Salem Estates and
Localities at the Essex Institute.
#56-58 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is a two-story plus a Mansard roof, wooden house with a balanced
facade. In the center of the facade are an adjacent pair of doors with
bracket trim. On either side of the doors are three-sided, two-story high
bay windows.
#60 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is a very simple, two-story plus a pitch roof, wooden (shingle) house.
82.
ESSEX STREET NORTH SIDE (continued)
It is gable end to the street and now has a simple show window in the
gable end. The building is simple in form, shape and design and has been
altered very little; it has only slightly carved bargeboards as decorative
features, and it blends well with the older houses on this street.
#66-68 Essex Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This very large, two-story plus pitch roof, wooden building was built as
a double or even triple house during the latter part of the nineteenth
century. Its irregular shape, which was stylish at that time, is hard
to analyze. It also has a high foundation with zipper brick strips and
two bay windows on the Essex Street side; one on either side of the
central recessed entrance. Under , the eaves there is a dentil cornice.
WASHINGTON SQUARE EAST BEGINS.
#70 Essex Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This is another of the large Italianate houses which replaced some
earlier Salem homes during the third quarter of the 19th century. It is
a two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house facing Essex Street.
It is trimmed with Italianate brackets and has a recessed central door
with a bay window above.
#72 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
It is difficult to date this small, simple gable-end-to-the-street house.
It has two stories plus a pitch roof, and the clapboards are covered with
siding. The entrance is through the east side and has simple pilaster trim.
#74 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus a hip roof, rectangular, wooden house is hidden behind
two-over-two windows and siding which detract from its original Federal
style. The reeded pilasters and semicircular fanlight which adorn the side
entrance are also hidden under a later canopy. There is an ell at the
rear of the house.
#76-78 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is a fine example of a Greek Revival two-family house. It has two
83.
ESSEX STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
stories plus a pitch roof and faces the street. The six-bay facade is
covered with matched boards, and the window trim is typical of the style.
The central double doorway is separated by a partition and recessed; the
exterior of the recess is framed by pilasters trimmed with fretwork. The
house has two chimneys at either end and four adjacent eyebrow windows in
the front pitch of the roof.
The Phillips School (see #50 Washington Square South) is also on
Essex Street. The addition on Essex Street is brick and has three stories;
it was built in 1924. This school covers land where once ther+ust have been
several old houses. The street numbers jump from 78 to 94 beyond the
school.
#94 Essex Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER,
This is a large, two-story plus Mansard roof house on a high foundation.
It is trimmed with Italianate brackets and fish-scale slates . The central
entrance and portico has a three-sided bay on either side. There is an
ell behind the house.
#96 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This is a simple, two-story plus a gambrel roof, wooden house which has not
been marred architecturally by alterations . It is gable end to the street
and has a simple entrance trimmed with later Greek Revival trim in the
middle of the five-bay facade in the east yard. There are two simple
pedimented dormer windows in the roof and �'an ell in the back.
#98 Essex Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a three-story plus a hip roof rectangular house with its narrow
end onthe street. Some of its old clapboards have been covered with
shingles. A pedimented enclosed porch in the yard on the west is the
main entrance to the house. The porch is trimmed with reeded pilasters and
a dentil cornice - typical Federal details. Thereis a small rear ell
attached to the main house.
84.
ESSEX STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
#100 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This run-down, large, wooden house is a more elegant Greek Revival house
than most of those in Salem. It has two stories plus a pitch roof and is
gable end to the street.. The matched board facade on the west side of the
house has corner pilaster strips and its entrance appears to have been
somewhat altered by the addition of a storm porch.
Beyond this entrance there is a two-story columned open porch. The
house has a high stone foundation and a typical wide entablature under the
eaves . There is a small pitch roof ell in back of the house.
#102 Essex Street. This is now a large hot top parking area which
belongs to the Hawthorne Motor Hotel. It was formerly the site of several
old Salem houses, including the house where Madame Babbidge taught many
generation of Salem children, and the Crowninshield-Bentley 'louse, which
is now on the grounds of the Essex Institute.
#112 Essex Street (See Washington Square West. ) The Hawthorne Motor
Hotel.
WASHINGTON SQUARE WEST BEGINS.
#132 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: SEVERAL.
The Essex Institute at the corners of Washington Square West and Essex
Street has several prime buildings on its grounds, all so familiar to
citizens of Salem that no lengthy descriptions of them are necessary.
I
The John Ward House in the yard behind the Institute is a prime
formerly
example of 17th century architecture; it/stood on St . Peter Street. The
Crowninshield-Bentley House serves to teach how houses looked in the early
years of the 1700 ' s, as well as having been the first Salem home of the
famous Crowninshield family and Bentley' s boarding house. The brick
Pingree House with its fine details is undoubtedly McIntire ' s most well-
known surviving building and is enjoyed by students and tourists each year.
Smaller buildings in the enclosure include the Doll ' s House made from
85.
ESSEX STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
the remains of the first Quaker Meeting House in Salem, a cobbler' s shop,
the cupola from the Pickman-Derby-Brookhouse House with its interior scene
painted by Corne, and the brick chaisehouse behind the Pingree House.
The building which the Institute, the Museum and library occupy
consists of the Tucker Daland mansion (1851) on the east and Plummer
Hall (ca. 1857) on the west; the buildings are bridged b a brick portion
_ 9 g Y
on
which has recently been greatly enlarged. About/the general site of
Plummer Hall was the home of Captain Joseph Gardner, who died fighting
the Narragansett Indians in 1675 . His widow married Governor Simon
Bradstreet, who then moved into the old house. William Hickling Prescott,
the famous historian, who later lived in Boston, was born in a house that
once stood in this enclosure.
#134 Essex Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: ca. 1900.
The massive Salem Armory is a landmark and was built in 1908 on the site
of the home of Captain Joseph Peabody, which had been used for armory
purposes before it was razed to make way for the new building. The
long, narrow structure has two stories and crenelated towers at either
corner. The windows and recessed entrance on the narrow end on Essex
Street are Gothic in style. The structure extends through the block
to Brown Street.
86.
FORRESTER STREET
Perley found references to the lane down to ye cove as early as
1667, meaning the west end of present-day Forrester Street. A few years
later the lane, which ran beside a creek draining from the Common to a
cove half way down the street, was called Gerrish ' s lane, undoubtedly
after the Gerrish family who lived in an old house at the corner of
Forrester and Essex Streets . By 1804 the street had become known as
East Street, although it also was called Gutter Lane during the same
period. About 1850 the name was changed to Forrester Street, which
had formerly been the name of that part of Bridge Street from Winter
to Washington Street.
Forrester Street evidently ran beside a creek, which drained the
ponds on the Common and flowed easterly into the marsh and cove beyond
the point where the street branches onto Essex Street. According to
Perley the creek was not entirely filled in until the 1850 ' s . The
lots on the south side of the street faced on Essex Street originally,
and Bentley writing in 1811 about a very high tide said, "And yet it
overflowed none of the Gardens between East and Essex Streets in which
boats might float at high tide when I came to Salem. "
Browne, in his recollections of the street during his youth about
1800psaid that there was only one house on it at that time - that of
the Richardson ' s . The schoolhouse which had been on the Common was
moved to the south side of the street in 1803 and still later moved
to #14 Webb Street, where it is still thought to stand, now converted
into a residence. Beyond the school there was an open field. A
ropewalk run by the Foye family at the foot of the street ran across
the marsh to the cove. On the northern side of the street there was
a tannery, which was begun by John Ives and eventually bought by
Nathaniel Richardson in 1770 . In 1794 Bentley wrote, "tried new
windmill without success, " referring to a windmill put up by Richardson
with the hope that it would grind bark. This same Richardson was
87.
FORRESTER STREET (continued)
1
killed in 1796 when a building he was helping to move fell on him.
Browne, who wrote there was only one house on the street when
he was young, also said that Nathaniel Richardson, the tanner, laid
out the street in 1793 . Perley ' s statment that he found early
references to it .and Bentley' s note in 1798 that "Masury' s old House,
East Street, taken down!' suggest that Browne was mistaken and the
street is a very old one. The fact that it was improved "by a
Bridge and Drain" in 1795 undoubtedly increased traffic on then
East street, which probably accounts for the fact that Browne thought
it was a new street when he was a boy.
Forrester Street was extended to Webb Street in 1872 after the
cove was filled in.
FORRESTER STREET - EAST SIDE
#1 Forrester Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roof,wooden house on the corner of Washington
Square East and Forrester Street faces Forrester Street. It is probably
the oldest house on the east side of the Common, although its age is
open to speculation. Some say it contains parts of a very old 17th
century house and belonged to the Ives family; others say it was built
in 1770 . It is commonly known as the Whipple house and was for a time
the home of the Whipple family, which engaged in a thriving gum copal
tziade and business . (See White Street.)
The large, square central chimney of this house and the paired windows
are both characteristic of the Pre-Federal period style . The atrance
in the middle of the five-bay facade is in an enclosed pedimented
porch, which has reeded pilasters at either side; it is outlined by a
twisting wisteria vine growing on a wooden trellis. There are several
additions on the east side of the house.
' 88,
FORRESTER STREET (continued)
FORRESTER STREET - WEST SIDE
#2-4 Forrester Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This handsome. large two-story plus hip roof wooden house was obviously
built for two families. The facade overlooks Forrester Street and has
a matched board exterior and a gable above the two deeply recessed
entrances, which are separated by a partition. The central portion of
the facade projects slightly. The house has many external details,
which are ornate and elegant. These include fleur-de-lis, Gothic
drops, Italianate paired brackets and a variety of window treatments,
but the house is large enough and they are used skillfully enough to
result in a very pleasing building. The house shows no signs of
alteration; it stands on a high granite foundation.
89.
HARDY STREET
Hardy Street was laid out between Essex and Derby Streets by
Joseph and John Grafton between 1667 and 1670, according to Perley,
and in 1683 they continued the twenty foot wide lane to the water.
It was first known as Grafton ' s Lane. By 1747 Perley wrote that it
was called Hardy ' s Lane after the Hardy family, whose estate was on
the bank of the South River on the west side of the street. Joseph
Hardy was a successful shipbuilder here in the early 1700 ' s, and his
mansion which Bentley said was "among the oldest of our houses" was
demolished in 1825. Bentley also made mention of the Pope house
there as having been built in the 1600 ' s; what has happened to this
building is not known. Perhaps it has disappeared along with the
"Allen pear tree;' which the"Visitors ' Guide to Salemt (1892) said
was nearly as old as the Endicott pear tree.
The old East Church,where Bentley preached, stood on the southwest
corner of Hardy and Essex Streets from 1717, when it was built,.until
it was demolished in the middle of the 19th century. Bentley' s
predecessor, the Reverend James Diman, lived in an old gambrel roof
house with an interesting end overhang, which was at #8 Hardy Street.
This house is now gone .
During the end of the 1700 ' s and early 1800 ' s there were changes
made in all of this neighborhood because of the success of Derby ' s
and Crowninshield' s wharves and Salem' s prosperity. Old houses were
taken down and new ones built. Bentley wrote that Dean ' s, Collins '
and Webb' s old houses, all on Hardy Street, were demolished, and he
mentions new additions and new houses being raised. A Mr. LeFevre,
who won some money in a lottery, built a house on Hardy Street below
Derby, and Bullock' s new house was built in 1800. Mr. Putnam, "the
undertaker, " or builder, erected Captain Stone ' s new house in 1807.
90.
HARDY STREET (continued)
Perhaps the most famous resident of the street was Captain
William Driver, who first called the American flag "Old Glory. "
According to the 1837 City Directory, Driver lived at #14 Hardy Street.
As a boy he was apprenticed to blacksmith Abner Goodhue, but like many
other Salem lads, he soon tired of this and left home to seek his
fortirB at sea. He was active in the Fiji Island trade, and in the
course of one voyage he returned the homesick descendants of the
Bounty mutineers to Pitcairn Island from Tahiti. A local committee
is now planning to honor Driver by erecting a flagpole in his memory,
and Congress has recently passed a law allowing the American flag to
fly day and night above his burying place in Nashville, Tennessee.
Narrow Hardy Street has lost fewer of its old houses than many
. Y
streets in Salem, and., is architecturally and historically one of the
more important streets in this area.
HARDY STREET - EAST SIDE
There is no #1 Hardy Street.
#3 Hardy Street RATING: THREE, PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof house has a three-bay facade andfaces
the street. It is a typical small house of Salem' s past, but the
addition of siding and a modern canopy over the front entrance plus
replaced window sash have changed its appearance considerably. Beyond
the main house there is a small addition at one side of the buikhng.
#5 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This small two-story plus pitch roofswooden house also faces the street
and has a central entrance in an enclosed pilastered porch. The house
has a fat9square chimney and a rear lean-to additon, which makes the
house the so-called salt box type. Except for the addition of shingles
over the clapboards, the house seems to have been altered very little.
#7 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This Federal style wooden house probably looks just as it did when it was
ql.
HARDY STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
built except for a two-story flat roofed addition on the back. The
house has two stories plus a pitch roof and overlooks the street.
The five-bay facade has a typical simple Federal period doorway
trimmed with fluted pilasters and modillions; the two granite front
door steps remain and are matched by a handsome granite foundation.
The windows on the front of the house have been modernized.
G(0»i inl I?ell, 'c. 19(0
#7z Hardy Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: Wh.
Squeezed in behind #7 Hardy Street there is a small two-story plus
gambrel roof shingled house, which is simple in form and shape were
it not for the later addition of several one-story excrescences. The
original chimney has been replaced, and other original features are
not now discernible from the street
#9 Hardy Street was torn down by the city several years ago; it
was an old house with some fine interior trim.
#11 Hardy Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This large three-story plus hip roofs rectangular building is grander
and bigger than the average house in this neighborhood. The main
entrance is in the middle of the five-bay facade on the south side
of the house and has a semi-eliptical fanlight over the door and rather
unusual� severe,. three-quarter attached Tuscan columns on either side of
it. An entrance on the street side of the house is Victorian in style
now. The house still has its two square chimneys, but two-over-two
windows have reph:=ed the original smaller panes . A three-story addition
with piazzas has been added to the back of the house. The size and
elegance of the house suggest that this may have been the house Mr.
Putnam built for Captain Stone in 1807; it would be interesting to
investigate the records and also see if it is similar architecturally to
which
other houses/Bentley suggests that Putnam built on Chestnut Street.
#15 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
Like` many of the houses on Hardy Street, this is a two-story plus pitch
92•
HARDY STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
roof building with a five-bay facade overlooking the street. The
central entrance has a boldly molded pediment overhead and simple
pilasters on either side. The house has two square chimneys and a
tidy picket fence in front of it. Its foundation is low, and the
second floor windows are directly under the eaves, as they often
were in those days . The windows have, however, been changed to
two-over-two sash, and a two-story piazza has been added to the
back of the house. A seckel pear tree grows in the yard of this
house; once upon a time they seem to have grown in most of the small
yards in the city, but they are rapidly disappearing.
#17 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This three-story plus a very shallow pitch roof, wooden house is
another in an almost unbroken line of buildings with five-bay facades
and central doorways that overlook this old street. The house with
its three stories is larger than some of its neighbors, which adds a
9 5
little variety to the row. The main entrance has simple pilasters
on either side of it and a low granite step. At the rear of the
house there is a lean-to addition, which projects beyond either side
of the house;,making a pair of matching Beverly jogs, one at either
end of the house. In the yard behind the house there is a wooden,
arched trellis. The house rests on a low granite foundation and still
has its large square chimney. The unusual shallow pitch of the roof
suggests that the roof may have been raised at some time.
DERBY STREET CROSSES.
Across Derby Street the building on the corner of Hardy Street,
which was the site of Captain Joseph White ' s house, and the next
three houses on Hardy Street have been demolishedfand the land is now
owned by the House of Seven Gables.
#25 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
The next big house on the east side of Hardy Street is the Phippen
93.
HARDY STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
House, built by Joshua Phippen, a cooper, in 1782-84. It is a large
three-story plus hip roof. rectangular house. Some of its features,
which are typical of its style and period, are the two large square
chimneys, the molded window sills and the enclosed pedimented entrance
porches in the yard on eitl-e r side of the house. This building is
the property of the Gables and is not open to the public. Bentley
noted in 1803 that the "holder of the shorefront on Hardy Street is
now Joshua Phippen, " and the house is shown as being Phippen property
in the 1874 Atlas.
#27 Hardy Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This famous house, Hawthorne ' s Birthplace, was removed to this
location a few years ago from its original site on the east side of
Union Street and has since been restored. The date of the house is
uncertain, but its owners, the House of Seven Gables Settlement
Association, guess it was built about 1750 . The house is a simple
two-story plus a gambrel roof building, two rooms wide, which formerly
faced Union Street, but now faces the water. The central entrance has
simple pilastered trim and the house has a large.: square central chimney.
A lovely.. large elm tree stands in the yard in front of the house.
#29 Hardy Street burned down several years ago. Prior to that it
was used as a guest house for tourists visiting the House of Seven
Gables .
HARDY STREET - WEST SIDE.
#4 Hardy Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This large wooden multiple family dwelling is long and narrow. It has
three stories plus a flat roof with overhanging eaves and simple
brackets and is a typical example of its type and period. Projecting
from the long south side of the building are several three-sided bows.
It is entirely possible that part of this structure is actually older
than it appears .
94•
HARDY STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
#6 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof wooden house is gable end to the
street. It is hard to date because the chimneys are now gone and the
trim around the entrance is hidden by a stomp ,orch, but it seems to
fall into the Greek Revival category. The narrow yard in front of
the house has lilacs and fruit trees growing in it.
#8 Hardy Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD; FOURTH QUARTER
This five-bay rectangular, wooden (shingles) building has three
stories plus a nearly flat sloping roof and three-story piazzas
attached to the rear. It is obviously what is known as a",triple-
decker. " This building is on the site of the old Diman house, the
home during the 1700 ' s of the pastor of the East Church.
#10 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus gambrel roof house covered with siding„is set with
its narrow end on the street. The entrance was originally in the
middle of the south side of the house, but has now been covered over
in favor of the back door. The two tall slender chimneys on the back
of the house identify it as having been built duping the Federal period.
#12 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This house is clearly of the Greek Revival period, despite the fact
that it is now covered with brown shingles. It has two stories plus
a pitch roof and is gable end to the street. The five-bay southern
facade has a recessed central entrance with rectangular toplight and
full-length sidelights, typical Greek Revival features; the house also
has a wide entablature under the eaves, which is now partially hidden by
shingles. The large side yard is enclosed by a wooden fence. There is
a narrow ell behind the house.
#14 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL (?)
This simple two-story plus pitch roof house is gable end to the street
95•
HARDY STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
and more or less hidden by a two-car cinder block garage right in
from of its side entrance yard. The house probably dates from the
Federal or Greek Revival period, but siding, replaced window sills and
a high brick foundation make the date uncertain. The 1837 Directory
lists Captain Driver at #14 Hardy Street, but further research will
be necessary to ascertain whether this was actually the same house.
#16 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : THIRD QUARTER.
This unusual building does not fall into a general pattern or style.
It is a small one-story plus Mansard roof� rectangular, wooden building
on a low foundation. The roof does not seem to go with the very small
building in terms of style, but the whole effect is pleasing. Perhaps
originally this was a chaise house or similar outbuilding, which was
enlarged by adding the Mansard roof and converted into a dwelling.
It seems to appear in the 1874 Atlas of Salem.
DERBY STREET CROSSES
#18 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER
This two-story plus pitch roof wooden house faces the street and has
a central front door under a heavy canopy or roof supported by heavy
consoles typical of the Italianate style. Under the eaves there are
very simple paired Italianate brackets. The low foundation of the
house, and its form, size and shape indicate that it
may actually be older than the period given above.
#20 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This small two-story plus pitch roof house also faces the street. It
is what is called a half-house, i.e. , its entrance is at one end of the
facade instead of being in the center of a longer, balanced building.
The trim around the entrance is Victorian or Italianate in period and
is a later modification. The house has new aluminum clapboards, but
it still has a large central chimney and old granite doorstep.
96.
HARDY STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
#22 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Gable end to the street, this two-story plus gambrel roof wooden
house is clearly of the Federal period. Typical Federal features
are the needed pilasters on either side of the entrance in the south
yard and the semicircular fanlight above it; these details are now
partially hidden by an ornate Italianate roof and consoles. Other
Federal features are the granite foundation, small windows and molding
under the eaves. Beyond the house in the yard a newer two-story flat
roofed addition projects beyond the house making it L shaped.
#24 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is a large three-story plus hip roof wooden house similar in
size and form to the Phippen House across the street. The five-bay
facade faces the harbor and has a central entrance in an enclosed pedi-
mented and pilastered entrance porch. A picket fence separates the
property from the sidawalk. In 1874 this house belonged to the
Allen family; perhaps this is where the Allen pear tree grew.
#242 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This is a very simple house, in the Italianate style, It is set far back
in the spacious yard in front of #24 and is a two-story plus pitch
roof wooden house with the entrance in the gable or street end; the
lean-to addition at one side plus a dormer appear to be later changes.
It is said that the house was moved here.
#26 Hardy Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : GREEK REVIVAL.
This spacious two-story plus pitch roof house has what is probably one
of the best locations in Salem beside the harbor on a large lot of
land. It is set far back from the street which it faces and has a
balanced five-bay facade with a simple balustraded entrance portico.
The entablature under the eaves is a Greek Revival characteristic.
Beside the house there is a small garage. There was no house on this
location in the 1874 Atlas .
970
T
HAWTHORNE BOULEVARD
Prior to the early 1900 ' s Hawthorne Boulevard was two streets,
were
Walnut on the East, and Elm Street on the West. There houses in the
central area where now there is a grassy plot with statues. According
to Old Naumkeaq, there was a cove on the South River at the foot of
this street and a shipyard on the east side of Elm Street in the 17th
century. In 1773 the east side was called Brown' s lane, and the
west, Ward' s lane; by 1796 they were called Walnut Street and Elm
Street, respectively, although Elm Street was frequently called Lodder' s
Lane, or Plank Alley.
The statue of the Reverend Theobald Mathew, who visited Salem in
1849, was erected in 1887 on Central Street over a spring and moved to
this location in 1916.
The statue of Nathaniel Hawthorne was erected in 1925 with funds
ra.ised, by the Nathaniel Hawthorne Memorial Association. The pedestal
of the statue was made of Rockport granite. The sculptor was Bela
Lyon-Pratt.
98.
_ HAWTHORNE BOULEVARD, WEST SIDE (even numbers--Prom Essex through #12-14)
#2 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: TWO . PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
Is
This three-story, clapboard house with hip roof/directly on the streetand
has a recessed front entrance of a later style than the house. An
addition to this house fronts on Essex Street and may cover the original
entrance.
#6 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This large two-story wooden house ]hag a Mansard roof trimmed with
and`'
pedimented dormer windows and scalloped slates /also has the brackets
under the eavesof the Italianate style. The main entrance is recessed
and has a bay window above.
#8 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL This
plus
three-story/ hip roof, clapboard ,house with a Beverly jog is directly
the
on the street, with/main entrance in the yard; fluted pilasters and
sidelights frame this entrance. A smaller entry on the street has been
remodeled., or added, and has Victorian trim.
#10 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
hidden
This wooden house/in the yard behind #8 is two stories high with a
pitch roof, and it has a pitch roofed ell. The gable ends are toward
the street. and .` decorated by fancy shingles .
#10-12 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL
The Woman ' s Friend Society is housed in this three-story oblong brick
building with hip roof and four slender tall chimneys; it is placed with
a fanlighted entrance off the street on either side. It has a wooden
cornice and handsome double-keyed, splayed lintels over the windows.
According to Fiske Kimball, this building was begun in 1809 as a double
house by Joseph Fenno, and he attributes some interior carving to Samuel
McIntire. Kimball also believes that the mantel in the north parlor came
from #2 Chestnut Street. Captain John Bertram gave the north part of this
building to the Woman ' s Friend Society in 1879; ten years later it
purchased the remainder.
99•
HAWTHORNE BOULEVARD, EAST SIDE (odd numbers) --East from Essex to Derby streets
#1 Hawthorne Boulevard (See #109 Essex Street)
#3 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: - :,TREE. )PERIOD : CIRCA 1900.
This two-story wooden building with a flat roof is of relatively recent
vintage. It was built for commercial use around 1900.
#5 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: rRH.M PERIOD: FOJRTH QJARTE'R.
This three-story wooden building with a flat roof has front bay windows
extending up the full three stories. The entrance has Italianate trim. .
#11 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: THP,EE. PERIOD: 1850 ' s This is a
two-story,wooden, pitch-roof house with the gable end to the street
and an entrance in the side yard. Rather simple brackets support the
cornice and roof over the doorway.
13 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING.•.NONE PERIOD: CONTEMPORARY.
St. Mary' s School is a three-story brick building with cement trim
and two projecting side ells which relieve the solid facade. This is
a fairly new building.
#15 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: ONE: PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER
(Romanesque)
The Church of the Immaculate Conception was built about 1857 to
replace St. Mary' s Church which was built about 1820 on land presented
for that purpose by Simon Forrester, one of Salem' s most successful
merchants. This church was remodeled in 1880, at which time the tower
was added.
The building is of brickin the Romanesque style with sandstone
trim over the three arched windows and the portals. The gable end
is also relieved by the use of a brick cornice. There is an attached
tower on the south corner.
100.
HAWTHORNE BOULEVARD EAST SIDE (odd numbers) continued
#23 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
St. Mary' s Convent is in a large but simple and dignified two-story
brick building with a mansard roof (three dormer windows and fancy
slate work) . It has an imposing portico typical of this period. It
has been said that it is actually wooden faced with brick.
The group of four wooden buildings after St. Mary' s Convent--
numbers 27-33 Hawthorne Boulevard--all have rather high foundations
and do not correspond with buildings on the 1897 Atlas. It is
said that they were moved to their present locations when Hawthorne
Boulevard was created. and that some of them were
formerly on the strip which now divides Hawthorne Boulevard.
#27 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This appears to be three small attached pitched roof buildings. They
are all of wood and�two stories high. The . one in the rear has a
doorway of the Federal style with unusually narrow, decorated side-
lights. There is a thriving boxwood near this doorway.
#29 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This large two-story, wooden, gambrel roof building is in the yard of
#27 . It has a good cornice and entrance of the Greek Revival period
centered between two windows on either side.
#31 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This small two-storyyclapboard building has a pitch roof that might have
been built any time from 1700 to 1850; it is in the yard behind #33 .
Its high foundation implies that it is not in its original location.
eKter;cr
The lack of any,, architectural detail makes it difficult to date the
house?,-
101.
HAWTHORNE BOULEVARD EAST SIDE odd numbers continued
#33 Hawthorne Boulevard. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL. This i9 rl
Oblong, three-story, gable-end-to-the-street house: its facade .
is hidden under two porches, one On the first floor and one on the
second. Under this there is a Federal style. fanlighted doorway framed
by reeded pilasters. The house has a pitch roof.
102.
HERBERT STREET - From Essex to Derby Street
Herbert Street was laid out as a cart way over land of Joseph
Hardy in 1661, according to Perley. By 1765, it was referred to as
Derby ' s Lane, although Bentley often called it the lane east of Long
Wharf Lane. The list of street names Bentley noted in 1796, describes
it as Herbert Street; it was undoubtedly named for the Herbert family
who dwelt here.
Thomas Kenelly lived on Herbert Street and Bentley wrote in
January 1832, "The Catholics in Salem keep a place of Sunday prayers in
Herbert Street. . . Dr. Matignon with them this day. " He was referring
to Kenelly' s house. (See Union Street.) It would be interesting to
identify the location of this house and see if it is still standing.
HERBERT STREET - EAST SIDE (Odd numbers, #' s 5-27)
#5 Herbert Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This simple two-story, plus gambrel roof, wooden house is set end to
the street. The facade in the yard has a central door (added Victorian
trim) and two evenly-spaced windows on either side.
#7 Herbert Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
Number 7 Herbert Street .is a small one-and-a-half story, pitch roof,
wooden house with its gable end to the street. The doorway which has
had Victorian trim added is in the yard on the north side of the house.
Beyond the entrance there is a later two-story, flat-roof attached ell.
#9 Herbert Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: TRIPLE DECKER.
Placed well back from the street between #7 and #11 Herbert Street
there is a typical, gray, three-story tenement of the type commonly
built around 1900.
#11 Herbert Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This long, two-story plus pitch roof house is set at right angles to the
street with an entrance in the south yard. The clapboarded house is
quite simple in style with simple pilasters and a vined trellis on either
1030
HERBERT STREET - EAST SIDE (Odd numbers) continued
side of the entrance. The house does not seem to have been altered
in its exterior characteristics since it was built, and it looks
well maintained.
Beyond #11 Herbert Street there is a large vacant area where
until recently the old Seaman' s Bethel stood where Reverend Michael
Carleton ministered. Carleton is sometimes referred to as "minister
at large, " and is said to have been one of the originators of what.
was later to become the Children ' s Friend Society. Later it served
as a Calvary Baptist Church until it was bought by the French Catho-
lics in 1873 .
Next, south of the Seaman ' s Bethel, there was a school, which was
at one time called the Lynde Primary School. This, too, has recently
been demolished.
#23 Herbert Street RATING: THREE, PERIOD: TRIPLE DECKER.
This three-story, wooden tenement with brackets, typical dentil cor-
nice and three-story piazzas was built after 1897, according to the
Atlas for that year.
#25 Herbert Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This house is a small, one-and-a-half story pitch roof, wooden
building with its gable end to the street. It has paired brackets
under the eaves and an enormous bay window on the front of the house.
It+ does not appear on the 1874 Atlas, but it is in the 1897 Atlas .
#27 Herbert Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This is one of the important Salem houses, both architecturally and
historically. Phillips in Salem in the 17th Century wrote that it
was built by Timothy Lindall. Other authorities believe it was pro-
bably built by Richard Derby in the first half of the
here
18th century, and that he lived all his life and here his famous
sons were born. Richard himself be3an the famous mercantile busi-
10)}.
HERBERT STREET - EAST SIDE (Odd nu tubers) continued
ness, which his sons later continued and expanded. Elias Hasket
Derby became Salem' s outstanding merchant prince and pioneer across
the seas . Son Richard was a patriot and member of the Provincial
Congress, and Captain John was part owner of the ship Columbia
which discovered and named the Columbia River. Captain John also
commanded the ship which first took word to England of the Battle
of Concord and Lexington, thus giving the Americans a psychological
advantage.
The house is a two-story plus gambrel roof, wooden building
which faces on Herbert Street. The central enclosed entrance
side
porch has two sets of fluted pilasters on either/of the entrance
and a molded pediment above. The small oval windows on either side
of the porch are handsomely framed. North of the house there is a
so-called 'Beverly jog. " Old pictukes show the house before the
street level towards Derby Street was changed. In the yard,
instead of the summerhouse where Hawthorne supposedly -wrote, there
is now a small : one-story, pitch roof wooden barn.
HERBERT STREET - WEST SIDE - Even numbers (# ' s 4-26)
#4 Herbert Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus gambrel roof, wooden house is end to the street
and one room wide. The brick foundation suggests possible reloca-
tion to this site, although there is a building shown here on the
1851 Map. A three-story, wooden, later addition with piazzas,
attached to the rear of the building, is out of scale with the ori-
ginal house.
#6 Herbert Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is an excellent example of the simple Greek Revival two-,story,
wooden, gable-end-to-the-street house in Salem, and fortunately it
able end
has not been remodeled. The entrance at one side of the g
io5.
HERBERT STREET - WEST SIDE (Even numbers) continued
and is
is up several stairs recessed and trimmed with simple pilasters .
The wide entablature below the eaves, which continues across the
base of the gable, is also typical of the Greek Revival period.
#8 Herbert Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This L-shaped, narrow,fbrick (Flemish bond) , three-story plus hip
roof building was probably built between 1800-1810. It has the
wide plank window frames and Flemish bond brickwork of that period.
The only window lintels are on the narrow or street end of the
building; they appear to be slightly later than the rest of the
house in style (reeded, rectangular) , and may have been inserted
some twenty years later. The original front entrance has been
removed, but the brickwork shows where there once was a fanlight.
Bentley wrote on August 9, 1809, that Goodhue was building a
brick house on Herbert Street. He was probably refering to this,
the only one on the street.
#81-2 Herbert Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This very simple, two-story pitch roof house is gable end to the
street just beyond #8 Herbert Street. It occupies what shows on
earlier maps as the location of an outbuilding or barn of #8, and
in fact it may have been converted into a residence years ago.
There are only two small windows on the street end and a plain
recessed entrance.
#10 Herbert Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is a large, two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house. The gable
end is on the street. It is characterized by overhanging eaves and
Victorian trim around the .entrance.
#12 Herbert Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The external appearance of this building shows no signs of its age
and importance as the house in Salem with which Hawthorne was most
intimately connected. Itis a three-story, plus pitch roof, end-to-
io6.
HERBERT STREET - WEST SIDE (Even numbers)
the-street wooden house to which someone later added piazzas typical
of the triple-decker tenement; they hide the entrance in the south
side yard. Old photos at the Essex Institute reveal that the house
was originally closer to the ground; it was probably raised when the
"modernization" took place.
As late as 1851, this house is shown on the Atlas as belonging
to J. Manning ' s estate. It is said to have been built circa 1790
by Hawthorne ' s maternal grandfather, Richard Manning. The garden
backed up to the Hawthorne ' s house on Union Street. After Hawthorne ' s
father ' s death, his family moved in with his Manning relations and
lived there ten years or so. Supposedly, . Hawthorne lived in the
third floor southwest chamber. Later he wrote: "In this dismal
chamber fame was won. . . .Should I have a biographer he ought to
make great mention of this chamber in my memoirs, because so much of
my lonely youth was wasted here. "
#14 Herbert Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: EARLY 1900 ' s
Sandwiched in between #12 and #16 Herbert Street is this two-story,
flat-roofed, wooden (siding) , end-to-the-street, tenement with the
customary brackets, simple dentil and two-story piazzas .
#16 Herbert Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This small one-and-a-half story, pitch roof, wooden (siding) building
is gable-end to the street. It seems to combine several different
buildings or ells extending back from the street and a resident of
the house believes that part of it is the Derby countin + ouselwhich
was moved to Herbert Street some years ago from the wharf and converted
into a dwelling. If this is so, it is naturally of greater interest
than its present exterior appearance indicates .
Beyond #16 Herbert Street is the lot left vacant after the Polish
School was recently demolished.
107.
HERBERT STREET - WEST SIDE (Even numbers) continued
#22 Herbert Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This tiny, one-story plus gambrel roof, wooden (siding) house is A
both the 1874 and 1851 Atlases. It is gable end to the street, and
has an entrance on the south side in an added ell. There is little
trim on the exterior, and the addition of the ell detracts from the
original design.
#24-26 Herbert Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Except for the addition of a simple, two-story piazza attached to
the facade, this house looks very much as it must have when first
built. It is a two-story, plus pitch roof building facing Herbert
Street; the narrow wooden clapboards still keep out the elements .
originally it had a plain central front entrance with a window on
either side.
108.
HODGES COURT - From Essex to Derby Street.
Phillips ' conjectural map of Salem in 1780 shows a lane running
from Essex Street about a third of the present length of Hodges Court.
Perley wrote that it was. laid out ten-feet wide by Mrs. Mary Searle
in 1669 and was called the lane to Francis Skerry' s in 1685 . Various
members of the Hodges ' family seem to have lived at the house at the
head of the lane, #95 Essex Street, for many years, and the land on the
east side of the street was presumably the garden beyond the house.
Bentley makes few references to the street. The 1897 Atlas shows
the street running all the way to Derby Street. Most of the existing
houses appear to have been built shortly before then.
HODGES COURT - EAST SIDE (Odd numbers # ' s 5, 7 and 9.)
The three houses on the east side of Hodges Court are all similar
in style and size and were probably all built about the same time, i.e.1
during the last quarter of the 19th century.
#5 Hodges Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This two-story plus pitch roof clapboard house faces Hodges Court. It
has Victorian trim around the main entrance on the street and a two-
story bay window at one side of the door, so that the facade is not
symmetrical.
#7 Hodges Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
The second house on Hodges Court, like #5, is a two-story plus pitch
roof, clapboard house directly on the street. The facade has five bays
with a center doorway with typical Victorian trim.
#9 Hodges Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This two-story, pitch roof wooden house has its gable end on the street.
Lattices have probably been .added to the typical Victorian doorway in
the yard south of the house.
HODGES COURT - WEST SIDE (Even numbers)
#2 Hodges Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This house is similar to most of the others on Hodges Court. It is a
two-story plus pitch roof, wooden building with its gable end to the
street. The entrance in the yard has Victorian brackets supporting a 109•
HODGES COURT - WEST SIDE (Even numbers) continued
small protecting roof, and there is a two-story bay window on the
gable end which is also typical of the end of the 19th Century.
#4 Hodges Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
Unlike the other houses on Hodges Court, this is quite small, consist-
ing of only one. story plus a pitch roof. There is a one-story bay
window on the gable end which projects into this narrow lane. The
simple entrance in the yard is reached through a piazza.
VACANT LOT. Formerly a Seaman ' s Bethel and school occupied this now
vacant land.
See Herbert Street.
#10 HODGES Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER
This is a modern, two-story, flat roofed wooden house with the two-
story covered piazzas and bay window typical of this period and type
of dwelling.
#12 Hodges Court RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This two-story, pitch roof, double house faces the Court and has
adjacent recessed entrances in the middle of the eight bay facade.
It was probably built about the same time as the other houses on the
street.
110.
HOWARD STREET
Howard Street was laid out in 1801 according to Perley. Bentley
wrote on March 16, 1801, "The Town of Salem have actually purchased
part of the Locust Field for a Burying Ground (The Howard Street
Cemetery.) This object is at length obtained. The entrance is near
the Rope Walk on Brown Street. The Burying Ground will lay upon
North River. The extent is between one and two acres including the
passage. " This "passage" undoubtedly refers to Howard Street. The
ropewalk belonged to Captain Jonathan Haraden, a hero of the Revo-
lution. (See Brown Street. )
It is thought that the street was named for John Howard, a
corporal in General Glover' s Marblehead regiment in 1775, who later
sailed under Samuel Tucker on the schooner Hancock. In 1779, Howard
settled in Salem and went into partnership with Samuel Buffum as
sailmakers on Gray ' s Wharf. Howard continued in this business
until he retired in 1839; he was the first president of the Salem
Charitable Mechanic Association and lived at 33 Brown Street.
It is worth mentioning the Salem tradition that it was on or
near what is today Howard Street that Giles Corey was pressed to
death in 1692. Corey, when he was to be tried for witchcraft, stood
mute and refused to plead. The punishment for this was "peine forte
et dure" according to the English law. Corey was indeed pressed to
death, and in this way was able to convey his property to his heirs
instead of having it confiscated by the government which would have
occurred had he stood trial and been found guilty of being a witch
or wizard.
The street evidently grew slowly and was not built up until the
1830 ' s when almost all of the houses appear to have been built in the
then prevailing Greek Revival style.
HOWARD STREET - WEST SIDE (Odd numbers)
#1-3 Howard Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
111.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house is gable end to the
street. The two-story bay window which balances the simple double
entrance on the gable end and the jig saw cut strips. of trim and
fancy shingles are characteristic of a style popular at the end of
the 19th century.
#5 Howard Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house is very similar to #1-3,
however, it is a single dwelling and has more of the fancy shingle
trim.
#7 Howard Street
The Convent of St. John the Baptist is a new two-story brick building
set back from the street. Beyond it is the new two-story brick St.
John the Baptist School. These two buildings are on the site of
the old Howard Street Church, which was also known as the Branch
Meeting House, because it was formed by a dissident branch of the
Tabernacle Church. The church was built in 1804-05 and designed by
McIntire. Bentley noted, "The New Meeting House labourers in Brown
Street have a hymn every morning. "
In this church on August 23, 1813, Judge Story delivered the
Lieutenant
eulogy for Captain Lawrence and / Ludlow who had died of wounds
received during the battle of the Chesapeake and Shannon, and whose
bodies had been brought back to Salem from Halifax on a ship manned
entirely by Salem sea captains and merchants . The highly emotional
politics of the day entered into the choice of the church, and it
was selected after two other Salem churches had refused to allow the
services to be held there. By 18161Bentley says.,the church was
unemployed. The 1850 Will of Peter Webster, merchant, says he
leased the cellar under the church for storing spices, sugar, salt,
molasses, etc. . Finally in 1867, it was sold at auction to the
First Methodist Society of Beverly, moved across the river minus its
tower, and then rebuilt.
112.
HOWARD STREET - WEST SIDE (Odd numbers)
#29 Howard Street
The Howard Street Burying Ground was opened in 1801. In 1795,
Bentley had written thahe town was looking for a new Burying
Ground, and he had suggested Windmill Point at the foot of Northey
Street. A glance at the family names on the slate stones in this
old cemetery, which was once bounded in part by the North River,
reveals that many of them were neighbors and parishioners of
Bentley ' s . There are Mannings, Graftons, Phippens, Hodges, Ropes,
and Archers . Oo]anl. Samuel Carlton who "raised a company and marched
to Ticonderoga" during the Revolution� is buried here, as is Captain
William Browne, commander of the Crowninshield's ship Brutus, which
was wrecked in 1802 when he perished. Bentley himself was also
here until his remains were moved to the new and stylish Harmony
Grove. One can' t help but wonder what Bentley' s comment on this ,
removal would have been.
here
The bodies of Lawrence and Ludlow (see above) were placed/tempo-
rarily in the Crowninshield tomb prior to their removal to the
Trinity Churchyard in New York City.
HOWARD STREET - EAST SIDE (Even numbers)
#2-4 Howard Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This building is very similar in style to the two houses across
the street. It is a large, two-story plus pitch roof, wooden,
double house and has the spindles, fancy shingles and gables popular
during the end of the nineteenth century.
#8 Howard Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house is gable end to the
street, and the entrance portico in the side yard has Doric columns
which are the hallmark of the Greek Revival style. The molded
wooden window lintels are five-sided, and there is a wide entabla-
113.
HOWARD STREET - EAST SIDE (Even numbers) continued
ture under the eaves; these are both Greek Revival features .
#10 Howard Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This large, three-story plus pitch roof, wooden house has its gable
end to the street, and a recessed entrance on the street. Except for the
wooden belts at the second and third floor levels, the house is very
simple in style.
#12 Howard Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This small, two-story plus pitch roof, clapboard house facing
Howard Street has a recessed front entrance trimmed with the flat
pilasters popular for simple houses of the Greek Revival period.
#' s 16, 18, 22, 26 and 28 Howard Street (See below for #24. )
RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
Five of the next six houses are all very similar in style, shape and
detail. They probably date from the 1830 ' s and are in the style of
the Greek Revival. Each of the two-story plus pitch roof, wooden
houses is gable end to the street, has the characteristic wide
entablature under the eaves and the recessed front entrance trimmed
with simple pilasters. They all have or had narrow pilaster strips at
the front corners . This group of houses reminds one of the famous
Greek Revival "Merchant ' s Row" in Chelsea.
#24 Howard Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: 1850 ' s
This house, which was probably built in the early 1850 ' s,has some
Greek Revival details as well as the paired bracket trim which became
popular in the early 1850 ' s . It is gable end to the street and has
a central entrance in the side yard.
#30 Howard Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof, gable -end-to-the-street, wooden house
has a central entrance in the side yard which is now trimmed with
what looks like a modern "colonial" broken pediment and urn over the
door. Except for this, the house is very simple in style.
ii4.
HOWARD STREET - EAST SIDE (Even numbers) continued
#' s 34, 38 and 40 Howard Street (There is no #36. )
RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
These. three houses are all very similar in size and style. They
have one story plus a pitch roof, with the gable end to the street.
Simple Greek Revival pilasters frame the doorways which are in the
side yards. Each of the houses has an ell at right angles to the
main portion of the house.No.38 has had Victorian brackets added
to the Greek Revival trim around the door. The land on which these
houses stand begins to slope down to what was once the North River,
fact
and this/is reflected in the graduated foundations of the houses .
#42 Howard Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
Like most of the other houses on Howard Street, this two-story
plus pitch roof wooden house is gable end to the street; its
entrance is in the narrow side yard. The house is simpler in
style than many of the Greek Revival buildings on the street.
115.
KIMBALL COURT
No information about the date when Kimball Court was opened has '-een
discovered, but it does not appear on the 1820 Map of Salem. It seems
likely that it was laid out during the latter '' half of the 19th century
when the house in which Bowditch was born waslmoved from its location at
#2 Brown Street back to the end of Kimball Court.
#2 Kimball Court RATING: ONE. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
The large wooden, two-story plus gambrel roof house at the end of Kimball
Court is one of the important Salem Houses . Here was born Nathaniel Bowditch
Although
on March 26, 1773. Bowditch had little formal schooling, he is still
known far and wide as the author of the "Practical Navigator" He was
apprenticed to a ship chandler at the age of ten, then spent nine years
at sea on Salem ships and began his successful career ashore
when he was elected president of the Essex Fire and Marine Insurance
Company. Finally in 1823, he moved from Salem to Boston where he died
in 1838. The interested reader can find much material about this
famous son of Salem.
The five-bay facade, gambrel-roof, size and shape of this house
definitely place it in the days preceding the Revolution. Other details
such as the front entrance, trim around the dormer windows and two-story
tall columns supporting a roof at the east side of the building were
probably added in the 1830 ' s during the Greek Revival. The high brick
foundation is accounted for by the fact that the house was moved.
116.
KOSCIUSKO STREET - From Derby Street to the harbor.
The 1851 Map of Salem shows an unnamed street where Kosciusko
Street now is on what was then called Tucker' s Wharf. The same wharf
appears on the 1820 Map of . Salem. Earlier this was apparently the
wharf of Benjamin Hawkes and John Babbidge, shipbuilders. Bentley
noted on August 6, 1790, that lightning "struck. . . a Work Ship on
Palfrey ' s land belonging to Mr. Babbidge & Co. " and on November 6,
1812, he wrote that "A Launch has been built in this town by Hawkes
& Babbidge for the Chesapeeke. . . .Work ship Palfrey ' s, below Derby
Street, West side of Daniels Street. " Bentley refers to this as
Palfrey's wharf in 1789. How much older it is than that is not
known.
In 1883, the street was named Grant Street according to records.
at City Hall; however, in 1918, it was renamed Kosciusko Street.
This was undoubtedly in honor of the Polish patriot who, like
Lafayette, helped the American colonists in their War of Independence.
The street was widened on the west side before 1897 to include what
were once small yards in front of the houses.
KOSCIUSKO STREET, EAST SIDE (Odd numbers -- #' s 9-21,
What was formerly #3 Kosciusko Street is now a vacant lot.
#9 Kosciusko Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-bay, two-story, wooden, gambrel roof house, unlike most of
the gambrels in this area, faces the street. It has a high brick
foundation which suggests that it was moved to this location.
(Cousins and Riley state that a portion of the Babbidge House on
Essex Street was moved to Grant Street, and it is probable that other
buildings were also moved here.. ) The house has a central entrance up
a short flight of stairs; there are narrow, full length sidelights on
either side of the door, and two small chimneys in the front slop of
the roof. A resident has been told that the house is 200 years old
and was in fact moved here.
117.
KOSCIUSKO STREET, EAST SIDE (Odd numbers) continued
#11 Kosciusko Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This two-story, pitch roof, clapboard house is gable end to the street
and rests on a high brick foundation. The entrance in the yard has a
Federal period door, but the chimney is modern. It is a simple type of
house that continued to be built over a long period of years. A flat-
roofed ell connects this dwelling to a more or less separate building
in the yard, which appears to be of relatively recent vintage and has no
architectural details worthy of note.
#15-17 Kosciusko Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: CIRCA 1900.
This is a typical three-story, flat-roofed tenement of the turn of the
century. It has a recessed entry on the street and three levels of
covered piazzas in the rear. The house is covered with siding.
#19 Kosciusko Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
The basic simplicity of the exterior of this house, plus the addition
of a porch on the gabIDe, or street, end and siding make it difficult
to date. It is a one-and-half story wooden building with a pitch roof
and is set back from the street. The chimney is modern.
#21 Kosciusko Street is a five-car, one-story garage facing the
street. Around the corner, unnumbered, there is a two-car, one-story
garage.
118.
KOSCIUSKO STREET, WEST SIDE (Even numbers, -- # ' s 6-22)
#6 Kosciusko Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: 1850 ' s.
This small, two-story, pitch roof house with its gable end on the street
has its entrance' in a north ell through a two-story small roofed piazza.
The street, or gable, end of the house has irregular windows, some of
which are very small; whether this is the result of remodelling or was
original is not known.
#8 Kosciusko Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This is another example of the two-story, wooden, end-to-the-street,
pitch roof house with little exterior detail that is difficult to date.
It has a brick foundation and lean-to ell in the rear. The simple
entrance in the yard has an enclosed second-story porch above it that
was probably a later addition.
#12 Kosciusko Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: 1900 ' s .
This two-story, wooden building is very similar to #14. They both have
flat roofs and a bracketed cornice trimmed with dentils.
#14 Kosciusko Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: 1900 ' s.
This is an L-shaped three decker, flat roof, wooden tenement with a
three -story piazza on the south side. It has a high brick foundation
and brackets and a dentil cornice under the eaves.
#16 Kosciusko Street. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This simple, small wooden house on a high brick foundation may have been
moved to its present location. The location of the second-floor windows
directly under the eaves usually indicates an earlier period than the
high foundation suggests. The house has a pitch roof and faces the
street. The recessed front entrance is in the center of the facade.
#18-20 Kosciusko Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: 1850 ' s.
This double, wooden house has two stories plus a pitch roof and faces
the street. It has two simple doorways trimmed with Victorian consoles.
119.
KOSCIUSKO STREET, WEST SIDE (Even numbers) continued
#22 Kosciusko Street. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: COLONIAL REVIVAL.
This small, one-story, wooden clubhouse has a flat roof and high founda-
exterior
tion. Its only architectural/ornamentatior6 are two archedskeystoned
windows and a wide entablature and cornice9which is only on the street
side.
120.
MALL STREET
Like most of the other streets north of the Common, Mall Street
was laid out during the Federal Period around 1800. B. F. Browne
wrote that it was opened shortly after 1798, and Perley said that it
was open by 1810 . City Hall records show that it was widened in
1829, even though it is still a narrow street, and conveys
the atmosphere of New England in the early 1800 ' s .
Nathaniel Hawthorne lived at 14 Mall Street during one of the
most important periods of his life. (See #14 Mall Street.) Frequently
his gaze must have wandered out of the windows of his home to the
houses we still see in the neighborhood, and often he must have
walked along the sidewalks now used by residents of Mall Street.
MALL STREET - West Side (Odd numbers)
#1 Mall Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Situated behind a high fence and with its narrow end on the street,
little of this two-story plus pitch roof, clapboard house can be seen
from the sidewalk. In the side yard, the house hasa handsome entrance
trimmed with a semi=circular fanlight within a molded pediment, which
v
was a very popular Federal Pemd treatment. Beyond the house in the
yo rd and attached to it, there is a larger, two-story plus pitch roof
addition of undetermined age, which would overshadow the main house
were it not so far back from the street.
North of #1 Mall Street there is a large hot-topped parking
space, and beyond that what may once have been an old hip roofed chaise
house, which is covered with brown shingles, green and gray trim, tan
siding and stucco.
#5 Mall Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is a fine house of the Greek Revival style with its gable end to
the street and with a matched-board pediment accented by the wide
entablature below it. The building is on a high granite foundation,
121.
MALL STREET - West Side (Odd numbers) continued
hence the recessed front entrance is up three granite steps.
The molded pilasters and guttae, which are part of the entrance trim,
are evidence that this house was built with great care for detail.
#7 Mall Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL. (?)
This small, two-story plus pitch roof and lean-to, wooden house is shaded
by a handsome cut-leaf maple tree. No modifications appear to have
marred the original style of the house which has a three-bay facade
directly on the street which includes an entrance at one end.
#9 Mall Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: UNDETERMINED.
Perhaps this two-story plus pitch roof, gable end to the street house
was originally built in the Greek Revival period, but, if so, siding,
a one-storyba window and flat-roofed ell to one side have ver
Y Y
much altered the original appearance of the house.
There is no #11 Mall Street.
#13 Mall Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house is gable end to
the street and has a typical Greek Revival recessed and pilastered
entrance and five-sided window lintels. A one-story bay window
trimmed with brackets has been added to one side of the house.
#15 Mall Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The shape and size of this small, gable end to the street house suggest
on
that it dates from the Federal period. The very simple entrance is/the
gable end, and the windows there have the five-sided lintels which were
period.
popular during the Greek Revival/ Two large, modern dormers have been
: broken out through the roof, and wide siding covers the building.
#17 Mall Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This small, two-story plus pitch-roof house has its entrance in a
narrow side yard in the gable end of the house. On either side of the
door there are narrow, delicate, slightly bowed, reeded pilasters, which
are Federal in style; above it there is a modern aluminum canopy. The
clapboards have been covered with aluminum.
122.
MALL STREET - West Side (Odd numbers) continued
#21 Mall Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
The lack of symmetry, two three-window, two-story bays, and the Lnree
large dormer windows suggest that this house was built in the Fourth
Quarter of the 19th century. It has two stories plus a pitch roof and
is covered with shingles .
#23 Mall Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This two-story plus pitch roof house with its overhanging eaves, paired
brackets, and Victorian entrance trim backs up to and is on the corner
of Bridge Street. The entrance is in the side yard, looking up Mall
Street.
MALL STREET - East Side (Even numbers)
#6 Mall Street is a modern, simple, one-story plus pitch roof,
wooden Cape Cod cottage.
#8 Mall Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof, brick (Flemish bond) house facing
Mall Street has several interesting features . The Flemish bond
suggests that it was built before 1817; the front door under a semi-
circular fanlight (the Victorian consoles are of later vintage) is up
a flight of four steps, and the house may well have a basement :citchen
rather than the usual service ell in the rear. The front chimney
location is not generally found during the Federal period. There are
no decorative lintels above the windows.
The two-story addition off the back of the house appears to be of
a later period. It seems likely that this and #10 Mall Street were
built at the same time and have a related history. Browne wrote that
Nathaniel Foster, a mason, built a brick house on Mall Street; perhaps
this is it. According to the 1837 Salem Directory, Holten J. Breed
lived here. During the War of 1812 he was commander of the Privateer
Grand Turk. The cannon at Fisherman ' s Beach in Swampscott is marked
with a plaque which says the gun was cast in England in 1798, captured
by the Grand Turk in 1812 and finally bought in 1835 by Swampscott
s
123.
MALL STREET - East Side (Even numbers) continued
fishermen to use as a fog signal.
#10 Mall Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
#10 Mall Street is also brick (Flemish bond) with no window lintels
like its neighbor #8 • Unlike #8, which has a simple wooden molding
under the eaves, this has a brick dentil cornice. Either of these
treatments is typical of the Federal style. This is a three-story
plus hip roof, oblong house with its narrow end ofl the street and a
six-bay facade in the yard. The central entrance is no longer
Federal, but Victorian. There is a brick, three-story wing at the
back of the house, in front of which there are now iron fire escapes.
#102 Mall Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This small, square structure with a nearly-flat roof has little detail
of a recognizable style. It has two-stories, is directly on the
street and has a columned and pedimented entrance, the elements of
which may be older than the flat roof of the house would suggest.
#12 Mall Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The symmetry of this five-bay, two-story plus pitch roof house with
its recessed, central entrance is very appealing. It has a Beverly
jog on either end which is reached through a columned portico
suggestive of the Greek Revival period. The window blinds and a boot-
scraper on the doorstep add to the style of this clapboard house.
#14 Mall Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roof, oblong house is wooden except for the
brick north wall and has its narrow end on the street. The central
entrance in the side yard is typical of the Federal style with a
recessed semi-eiiptical fanlight, sidelights, reeded pilasters and a
modillioned cornice. The molded cornice under the eaves is also
typical of the period. There are now a series of additions to the
back of the house, and in the front yard there are lilacs, forsythia and
other flowering shrubs .
This house is important because it was here that Hawthorne
121}.
MALL STREET - East Side (Even numbers) continued
lived from 1847 until 1850, while he was Surveyor of the Port at
the Custom House, and after he was fired while he wrote The Scarlet
Letter , his first successful novel. It is said that he worked in the
thyd story front room overlooking the street.
#18-20 Mall Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
The square central chimney and projecting molding above the third floor
windows identify this house as dating from the Pre-Federal period.
It is a three-story plus pitch roof house facing the street. Where once
the original doorway was, there is now a two-story, enclosed entrance
porch with a stained glass window at one side and a finely molded
piece of wood over the door which may once have been an original
window cap. Shinglbs cover what was probably a clapboarded exterior.
The last house on Mall Street is numbered on Bridge Street,
but it is worth pointing out that it occupies the site of the first
church erected by the Catholics in Salem. Known as St. Mary ' s Catholic
Church, it was built in 1821 on land given for that purpose in 1810
by Simon Forrester, who came to Salem from his native Ireland and
became a very successful merchant. The Church continued to be used
until 1857 when the Church of the Immaculate Conception was built;
it was finally torn down in 1877.
125.
MILK STREET
There seems to be very little recorded material about Milk Street ''
which is a short, narrow private way between Pickman andAndrew Street;
it does appear on Saunders ' 1820 Map of Salem. The street probably
existed, or may have been laid out when the brick house at the corner of
Milk and Pickman Streets was built in 1806-07 .
MILK STREET - WEST SIDE.
#2 Milk Street (See #16 Pickman Street)
In the yard beyond this house on Milk Street there is a small wooden
barn with a pitch roof. It has a facade gable and small cupola which
add to its interest.
#6 Milk Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
Set end to the street, this small wooden, gambrel-roof house faces south.
It is only one room deep and has two stories plus an attic. On either
side of the entrance there are delicate reeded pilasters. The 1874 Atlas
shows no house at this location, hence this building must have been
moved here, unless the Atlas was incorrect. There is a small addition
beyond the house.
#8 Milk Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This small, simple two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house is also end
to the street. It appears to be basically Federal in style, although a
more modern entrance is now at the gable end of the house, and a porch has
been added to the yard side of the house. Like #6 Milk Street, this
house does not appear as such in the 1874 Atlas; a barn seems then to have
occupied this location. Perhaps this house was moved here later, or the
barn was converted into a house.
MILK STREET - EAST SIDE
#1 Milk Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is a two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house wkich is end to the
street . It is simple in style, an example of the unpretentious
house of the end of the 19th century. The two-story high bay
window is trimmed with simple brackets similar to those
126
MILK STREET - EAST SIDE (Odd numbers) cont 'd
around the front entrance which is on the gable end of the house.
#3 Milk Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER, (?)
It is hard to date this two-story plus pitch roof, gable end to the
street, wooden house. It has a rough stone foundation and an entabla-
ture strip under the eaves which suggestsan earlier period than the
Third Quarter of the 19th century. However, the first-floor bay
window and the entrance with its square posts at either side date
from a later period.
Beyond #3 Milk Street (at what must once have been #5 Milk
Street) there are now two garages; the first for two cars and the
second for four cars .
#7 Milk Street (See #19 Andrew Street. )
127
OLIVER STREET
Bentley wrote in 1800 that "Oliver has opened a Street from the
Common to Needham' s Lane and to North River. Wright has finished a
house in this street. " The field where the street was laid out had be-
longed to the Lynde family for many years, and Bentley wrote that Chever,
whose family owned property at the west corner of the Common and winter
Street (See Washington Square North), "purchased on the whole west side of
Winter street, of Lynde. . . . " Chever, in turn, sold some of his newly
bought land to Edmund Needham whose family was for many years settled
on .the northwest portion of Winter Street.
Later Bentley said that the "old house of Chever (formerly near the
corner of Washington Square North and Wintex1Street) was possessed by
his son-in-law, Pratt, and sold to Wright, Baker, and removed on (to)
East side of Oliver' s Street. " B. F. Browne says one of the first houses
on the street belonged to a Mr. Skerry, who repaired the "old-fashioned
flag-bottomed chairs" on the west side of the street, and the other
belonged to John Scobie at #6 Oliver Street.
OLIVER STREET - EAST SIDE (Even numbers)
#2 Oliver Street (See #35 Washington Square North.)
#4 Oliver Street. (See #26 Winter Street. )
#6 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL (?)
This long two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house faces the street. It
has a six-bay facade and off-center entrance, which is trimmed with
simple pilasters; architect lly, it is unspoiled. Browne wrote that
this is one of the oldest houses on the street and may have been Chever ' s
which was moved here from the Common; if so, it may be older than the
exterior suggests . It belonged to the Scobie family for some years and
was the home of John James Scobie, a master mariner who sailed on the
famous ship George to Calcutta and was a member of the Salem Light
Infantry and the Salem Marine Society.
Beyond #6 Oliver Street there is a small clapboard chaise house which
128
OLIVER STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
has a pitch roof. It appears to be part of the property at #24 Winter
Street.
#8 Oliver Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
The broad eaves jutting out from the roof of this two-story plus pitch
roof house do not seem to belong on this otherwise simple, small house,
. which is set close to the ground. Some of the windows on the house are
small1and othersfa usual modern size. This house does not show on the
1874 Atlas; instead there is an outbuilding on the property of the house
fronting on Winter Street. Perhaps the former building was converted
into a house at some time.
#10 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: PRE-FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof wooden house faces the street. It has a
central chimney and rough stone foundation. The three-bay facade is not
balanced, and the simple pilastered entrance is near the north end of
the front of the building. The molded window sills and projecting cap
molding above the second-story windows are generally considered pre-
Federal in style. There is a modern aluminum canopy over the front door.
#12 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This one-story plus pitch roof, wooden house has many details which give
it style and interest. The five-bay facade on the street has a recessed
central entrance above which there is a five-sided wooden lintel. The
windows have similar lintels and appear to be French; the deception is
caused by the fact that the usual six-over-six windows have closed
shutters below them which are outlined in a white frame. Gothic overtones
on this Greek k Revival house include a central gable and hood or drip
moldings above the dormer windows . The house is architecturally intact.
There is no #14 Oliver Street.
#16 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
The three-bay facade of this small two-story plus pitch roof, clapboard
house is directly on the street. The entrance, trimmed with pilasters
and an Ionic entablature, is at one end of the facade . Attached to the
129
OLIVER STREET - EAST SIDE (continued)
rear of the house there is an addition which appears to be quite old,
if not original. There are lilacs in the yard beside this house .
#18 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This house also faces Oliver Street, like most of those on the street,
but it is a newer house and has different details . It has two stories
plus a pitch roof and is of wood; small, simple paired brackets trim the
two-story bay window and under the eaves and the entrance has carved
consoles in the "Victorian" style. It is not on the 1874 Atlas and
must have been built shortly thereafter.
#20 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This wooden house has two stories and a gambrel roof, which sets it apart
from its neighbors on the east side of Oliver Street. The exterior of
the house does not appear to have been altered over the years . There is
a simple pilastered entrance at one end of the three-bay facade .
#22 Oliver Street. RATING: TWO PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This simple wooden house in the Greek Revival style has only one story
plus a pitch roof and is gable end to the street. The entablature under
the eaves is a usual Greek Revival feature as is the recessed entrance
in the side yard with rectangular lights around the doorway. The founda-
tion under the house is high, especially in the back where the land begins
to slope gently down to what was once the bank of the North River.
OLIVER STREET - WEST SIDE. (Odd numbers)
#5 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This fine example of a large wooden Greek Revival house has a five-bay
facade and central recessed entrance. The five-sided lintels above the
entrance and windows are typical of the period as are the bold pilaster
strips at the ends of the facade and the entablature under the eaves .
#7 Oliver Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This is a very narrow two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house on a
high modern cinder block foundation. It is not on the 1874 Atlas .
130
J
OLIVER STREET - WEST SIDE (Odd numbers) continued
The building is L-shaped and shows no signs of being particularly old,
nor by the same token does it look like a typical modern house. It may
have been moved here and remodeled.
#9 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house is gable end to
the street. The five-bay facade in the yard is not balanced, and beyond
that there is a newer addition, which further unbalances the facade.
The entrance in the yard is trimmed with side pilasters and an overhead
pediment. There is a three-car garage in the yard.
This was the home of Mrs . John Forrester for some years after the
Forrester family moved out of their house on Washington Square North.
Interesting photographs at the Essex Institute reveal views of the
interior of the house when the Forresters lived there.
#11 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roof,wooden house with its narrow end on the
street has a Federal-period entrance in the yard at the south side of
the house. The doorway is in the middle of the balanced five-bay facade
and is trimmed with reeded pilasters and a pediment in which there is a
semicircular fanlight, a favorite detail of the early 1800 ' s . The heavy
molded wooden cornice is also a Federal feature. Off the north side of
the house there is a small two-story plus pitch roof ell. A brick side-
walk leads into the yard of this house; there is a cinder block garage
beyond the house in the yard.
#15 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof house has a fine entrance in the south
yard and a large central chimney. The side entrance of this gable-end-
to-the-street wooden house has heavy trim consisting of fluted pilasters
and a deeply molded pediment; a simpler entranceion the street may be a
slightly later alteration but is still in the Federal style. There is
a one-story ell beyond the house and a trellis partition with an arched
which
and keyed gateway/screens the backyard from view.
131
OLIVER STREET - WEST SIDE (Odd numbers) continued
#17 Oliver Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL M
It is hard to determine the age of this two-story plus pitch roofwooden
(siding) house, which is gable end to the street and hidden behind hand-
some trees . It may well be a Federal-period house, the facade of which
has been modified by the addition of a two-story, three-sided projecting
entrance porch and bay window above. There are also what appear to be
later additions to the main portion of the house running back into the
large side yard. The present shape of the house has not changed since
the 1874 Atlas,which indicates that these modifications (if such they
be) were made prior to that time.
#19 Oliver Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Changes have altered the appearance of this house, which was probably
built during the early 1800 ' s . A two-story enclosed piazza hides the
original entrance in the side yard and modern siding covers the window
frames ; there is a modern flat-roofed addition beyond the house. The
house is basically a two-story plus pitch roof, gable-end-to-the-street
structure.
#23 Oliver Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus gambrel roof, wooden (siding) house is gable end to
the street and back to Bridge Street, which didn ' t exist when this
house was built. The house has had a columned porch, flat-roofed ell
and two-story entrance tower added to it (prior to 1874 Atlas) , and
yet its basic form and style can still be seen. The house belonged to
the Pitman family for many years .
i
132
ORANGE STREET - From Essex to Derby Street
Perley says that Orange Street was laid out about three-quarters
of the way from Essex to Derby Street in 1671, by agreement of the
several owners of the abutting land, one of whom was Edward Bush,
seaman, and that it was continued to the water shortly thereafter.
Bentley, writing about the new street names in 1794, complained that
"Locust Street & Orange Street ought to have preserved the names of
their antient proprietors . . . .Locust should have been Skerry Street,
& Orange Street, Bush Street. " In 1809, he complained again, "Orange
Street has been a name given at the late naming of the streets by
persons uninformed of our topography - shamefully negligent of that
duty owed to the memory of primitive settlers. " Unfortunately, he
does not reveal why the name Orange was selected; in a list of his
parishioners and their residences he includes "Nathaniel Osgood,
Shoemaker, at Orange Tree. " Is it possible that there actually was
an orange tree in Salem at that time?
ORANGE STREET - EAST SIDE (Odd numbers) # ' s 3 - 7 .
#3 Orange Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof, clapboard house is gable end to the
street, and has an enclosed entrance porch with reeded pilasters in
the side yard. The foundation appears to be modern, and an old-time
resident of the area says the house, which she called the Stevens '
house, was moved to this location from the site of the Phillips
School addition.
#5 Orange Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER,
This appears to be a simple example of the Italianate or bracketed
style popular during the third quarter of the 19th Century. It is
a two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house with its gable
end to the street. The simple brackets under the eaves and the two-
story bay windows are typical of this period.
133
ORANGE STREET - EAST SIDE (Odd numbers) continued
#7 Orange Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house faces Orange
Street and has a central entrance portico of simple design. It seems
likely that the house has been altered somewhat because of the fact
that the window spacing on the first and second stories is not
matched on the third story. There is a Beverly jog at the north end
of the house.
134
PALFREY COURT. From Derby Street north.
Palfrey Court appears on the 1851 Map of Salem and had three build-
ings on it. It was undoubtedly laid out on land that belonged to des-
cendents of Peter Palfrey, a leader among the earliest settlers of Salem.
Bentley mentions the Palfreys in connection with the Derby Street area
and at one point refers disparagingly to the "rookeries" that belonged
to Palfrey.
PALFREY COURT, EAST SIDE (Even numbers) -- # ' s 6-14
#6 Palfrey Court. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: TURN OF THE CENTURY.
This is a typical three-story, flat-roofed multiple dwelling, commonly
called a "triple-decker. "
It has 'the
usual dentil trim at the cornice,
a hallmark of this type of structure, but ,the
simple pilastered entrance
P
in the yard is an unusual feature for this period.
#10 Palfrey Court. RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
A touch of Victorian trim has been added to the main entrance in the
side-yard of this two-story, end-to-the-street house. It has a gambrel
roof, two tall Federal-style chimneys and a mammoth granite door step.
A small two-story, pitch roof, wooden ell is attached to the eastern
end of the house. There is a small cinder block garage in the yard.
#12 Palfrey Court. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This long, narrow, end-to-the-street, two-story plus gambrel roof house
was typical of the Federal period until someone sometime added a pro-
truding addition with a sharply pitched, lean-to roof to the southern
facade of the building, which completely altered its original appear-
ance. The entrance is still, as it was, in the side yard, but it is now
at the junction of the original building and the added portion.
#14 Palfrey Court. RATING: THREE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
The gable end of this two-story, pitch roof house is directly at the
foot of Palfrey Court, and its main entrance is in the yard on the
135
PALFREY COURT, EAST SIDE (Even numbers) continued
eastern side. The house appears to have been altered from time to time
but was probably built in the 1830 ' s. There is a lovely cherry tree in
the yard, as well as a two-story, hip roof brick chaisehouse, which
also appears to have been altered.
136
t
PARKER COURT
Parker Court shows on Saunders ' 1820 Map of Salem. The three small
houses on this quiet court were all there at least as long ago as the
18 74 Atlas .
#1 Parker Court RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is a simple two-story plus pitch roof, gable-end-to-the-street, wooden
(shingles) house directly on the street. The gable end has three bays
and an entrance at one end above which there is a five-sided lintel over
what was probably once a transom light, but is now a wooden panel.
#3 Parker Court RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This simple two-story plus a pitch roof, wooden house has a three-bay facade
directly on the street. The houseis close to the ground and has a shallow
lean-to roof addition in the rear. The window sash and brackets which
trim the entrance are both later than the house.
#4 Parker Court RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This small house, which is similar to the other two on this court, is at the
end of it overlooking the back yards of the houses on Pleasant and Winter
Streets . It has two stories plus a pitch roof and a two-bay facade, at one
side of which there is a simple pilastered entrance and at the other, a
three-sided bay window.
137
PICKMAN STREET
Pickman Street was laid out through Pickman ' s Field and was only
one block long at first, i.e. , it ran from Pleasant Street to the water,
according to B. F. Browne. The first reference to it in Bentley notes
that in 1798 a "building (was) raised upon Browne ' s land, in Pickman ' s
Street. "
Bentley made several references to the area a few years later,
which are very interesting and worth quoting. January 31, 1817 :
. . .Mr. Parker, Son in law of Master Watson, has laid this week
the keel of a vessel in the old Shallop cove below Pickman ' s
street. This was the place of business for Salem at the first
landing on this side but the water is so shallow as to forbid
much hopes of its being useful again for purposes of navigation.
I suppose the whole Cove from Roache ' s point to Planter' s
marsh is not of half the depth as when I first knew it . (1781)
The Conduits at the bottom of the Common & along the new
settlements empty into it and carry much earth.
In May 1817, he wrote:
In visiting the Vessel to be launched at next full tides in
Shallop' s Cove, below Pickman Street, so called, I examined
for the first time the plentiful springs at the foot of the
bank N.W. from the street, & nearthe shore. These springs
were unobserved before from the inclosed state of the lots
till the present time & because the path round the shore was
over the bank to avoid the marsh below. The whole bank
continues its discharge & in four places continual streams
were formed & two of them were accomodated for use by the
troughs, & proper receptacles . The water is the best, & the
springs are in a bed of clay. One of the Open Springs was at
the bottom of the street. These might be made of great advan-
tage for distilleries & other arts requiring a constant & rich
supply of the best water.
On May 30, 1817, Bentley wrote again about this area:
This day was launched on the shore below Pickman street into
Shallop Cove, a Schooner of 120 tons built for Mr. Parker
near his mansion house. No part of Salem has changed so much
as this cove since I knew Salem. The filling up of the marshes
& of East Street (1967, Forrester Street) , the great quantity of
earth brought from the center of the town by the Sluice empty-
ing into it & the building & improvements around it has changed
the depth very much. No house lot extended to it when I came
& its shores were only for pastures . We now find from Roaches
point at the Charity house a road upon the eastern part of the
Cove & this part filled up. Then from the Old Neck gate (lower
Essex Street) , Dalrymple ' s buildings out & the lands in culti-
vation, till we come to the Ropewalks between which are Briggs.'
court & buildings, Andrew & Pickman streets, besides Pleasant
street which brings buildings below Winter Street. Then Osgood ' s
wharf & the landings on the northwest side & the wharf at
Planter ' s marsh belonging to Pearce & Wait, which is very
large & all the marshes drained & inclosed with passages upon
138
PICKMAN STREET (continued)
all the lots to the shore & wharves . A change which must
appear great & a population & cultivation new.
Evidently the street was built upon quite soon after it was opened.
Browne reported that there were two brick houses there quite early as
well as wooden ones. The brick house at the corner of Milk and Pick-
man Streets was built in 1806-07 . One of Salem' s greatest benefactors
and most successful merchants, John Bertram, bought a house on Pickman
Street in 1829 (#12) . By 1842, he lived at #2 Pickman Street, and from
1845-55 he lived at #24 Winter Street (see Winter Street) . Bertram was
a native of the Isle of Jersey, and although he came to Salem after
the mercantile trade had begun to decline, he was very successful and was
able to found and support generously such institutions as the Old
Men ' s Home and Salem Hospital.
PICKMAN STREET - NORTH SIDE (Odd numbers)
#3 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story, brick, L-shaped building once served as a barn for the
Federal period house in front of it on Winter8treet. It was converted
into a dwelling shortly after World War II. It is amusing to recall
that during the many years when the Rantoul family lived in the house,
their cow used to be led each spring to their house in Beverly Farms
and walked back to Salem each fall. The conversion of the building to
a house has not destroyed the character of the old brick building.
#5 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This large two-story plus pitch roof, wooden house is an excellent
example of the Italianate style. It has ornate paired carved brackets
under the eaves, varied trim about the windows and square columns which
support the raised front portico. The facade, or gable end of the
house, which is on the street, is rusticated wood, while the sides are
clapboarded.
PLEASANT STREET CROSSES.
139
PICKMAN STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
#11 Pickman Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL (?)
The general size and scale of this simple two-story plus pitch roof house
suggests the Federal period. The house, which is gable end to the
street, has a high brick foundation and may have been moved to this
location. Undoubtedly the large entrance porch is a later addition
to the house. Gray shingles cover what were probably clapboards
originally, and modern window blinds serve to cover up the true style
of this house. There is a small, very low stud, two-story plus pitch
roof addition behind the house.
#13 Pickman Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL (?)
Like ##11 Pickman Street, this house was probably once a simple wooden,
two-story plus pitch roof, gable-end-to-the-street house of the Federal
period. During the years, a great many alterations and additions have
been made so that it is hard to recognize it as being of any particular
style; a two-story porch has been added near what is now the front door,
the first two stories of the .street or gable end have been built out so
they project beyond the original end of the house, and two additions
have been added to the back of the house.
#17 Pickman Street RATING: ONE: PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This substantial three-story plus hip roof, square brick house is
typical of the Federal style in Salem. The brickwork on the facade is
Flemish bond which usually means the house was built before 1817, and
the wide wooden "plank" window frames suggest a date prior to 1810.
The house is belted at the first, second and third floor levels and has
a bold, but simple, wooden cornice_
The house shows signs of modifications made some years ago, probably
when it was made ready for use as the Mack Industrial School. Miss
Esther Mack, a member of the Mack family, which gave Mack Park (Ledge
Hill Park) to the city, left funds years ago to establish a domestic
science school for girls; it was in this building that the instruction
was given until the 1920 ' s,when there was no longer a need for this
140
PICKMAN STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
service. The sbhool was closed, and the funds spent on scholarships
for Salem girls. The scholarships are still being given.
The heaviness of the arch over the front door is not typical of
the Federal period and is probably a later modification in the 'colonial"
style. The original six-over-six windows have been replaced by two-
over-twcs,and the lintels above the windows are not all the same, as
they once would have been. 'The double-keyed window lintels on the west
end of the building appear to be wooden and are probably original.
Those on the facade are a simple rectangular shape and seem to be stone.
The brick steps leading up to the front door are quite new.
#19 Pickman Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER. (?)
This wide two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (shingles) house rests on a
high granite foundation and faces the street. It has a simple three-bay
facade and central front door above which there is a small bay window.
The lack of architectural trim or any outstanding feature makes it
difficult to label this house as to age and style.
#193-2 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. . PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This small one-story, plus straight-sided Mansard roof, wooden house is
set well back from the street. There is a porch running across the front
of the house which has simple columns and a balustrade as well as a
row of small spindles just below the porch roof.
#21 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD FEDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roof, rectangular, wooden house is typical of
the Federal Period, although it now has two-over-two windows, and siding
covers the original clapboards . The entrance, framed by heavy pilasters
and a Doric entablature, is in the side yard. There is a newer three-
story ell beyond the house. The house has a solid granite foundation.
#23 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This small one-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house faces the
street. It has a high foundation. There are simple brackets under the
eaves and a bay' window to one side of the front door. Boldly carved
141
4 f e
PICKMAN STREET - NORTH SIDE (continued)
rope trim frames the entrance and also appears on the bay window.
#25 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This small gable-end-to-the-street, shingled house has a simple pilastered
entrance in the side yard. The entrance is in the middle of the five-
bay facade, and a modern, lean-to porch has been built out over the
doorway.
#27 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This two-story plus pitch roof house is gable end to the street and has
a divided door on the Pickman Street side with ornate consoles supporting
the roof, which projects overhead. The house has simple brackets under
the eaves with a quatrefoil cut-out motif in each one. On the Webb
Street or water side of the house there are three dormers and a two-
story bay window, from which the view must be pleasant.
PICKMAN STREET - SOUTH SIDE (Even numbers)
#2 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This rectangular, three-story plus hip roof, wooden house has been
altered in appearance by its wide modern clapboards and the addition of
a bay window above a Greek Revival entrance. It is possible that the
house was built in the Greek Revival period; however, the shape and
general style of the house are typical of the Federal period. John
Bertram (see above) was living here in 1842, and he wrote that "we moved
r
in our new brick house on the opposite side of the street in 1845, "
(probably across Winter Street) ; it is not probable that he moved from
one new house to another, hence the earlier date for #2 seems accurate .
The old six-over-six windows have been replaced with two-over-two, and
the wooden cornice is more or less hidden by the gutters . There is a
two-story pitch roof ell attached to one side of and at right angles to
the main house.
#4 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roof, oblong brick (Flemish bond) house is an
interesting one to study, because one can see (from variations in the
142
s 4 S
PICKMAN STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
brick) evidence of some of the modifications that have been made in it.
The narrow end of the house is on the street, and originally a Federal
style fanlighted entrance was in the east yard facing Collins Cove.
That door has now been blocked up, and the Greek Revival style recessed
entrance is on the street in what is an entirely new strip of the house
running the whole depth of it. Like many other brick houses in this
particular neighborhood, there are no lintels above the plank-frame
windows . The house was probably built before 1817, when Flemish bond
seems to have gone out of style or become too expensive. Kimball says
a mantel said to have come from this house and sold at auction in 1931
was apparently carved by Samuel Field McIntire. Whether he did other
work in the house is not known.
PLEASANT STREET CROSSES.
#12 Pickman Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
Robert Cook, who built #14 Pickman Street in 1811, built this three-
story plus hip roof, wooden house between 1813 and 1815, when he died.
On the basis of style and workmanship, Fiske Kimball attributes it to
Samuel Field McIntire. In 1829, Nathaniel Weston sold it to John
Bertram, who evidently lived here until he moved to #2. Pickman. In 1836,
Charles Millet bought the house; he was master of the ship Tybee in
1832 and opened the wool trade between this country and Australia at
that time.
The front door at the eastern end of the three-bay facade on the
street has a semicircular fanlight above it, side lights and delicately
fluted pilasters at either side. The roof above the entrance and
supporting consoles area later addition.
#14 Pickman Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This vine-covered . brick (Flemish bond) , three-story plus hip roof
house has many delicate Federal details, the most outstanding of which
is the slightly recessed front doorway ornamented by delicate Ionic
columns, finely carved Adamesque husks and ribbons and sidelights . The
143•
PICKMAN STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
house has a five-bay facade and is directly on the street; it rests on
a granite foundation. The wooden cornice has a row of brick dentils*
below it, and the first and second-story Windows have reeded oblong
stone .lintels.
The house wasbuilt by Robert Cook in 1811 and is attributed to
Samuel Field McIntire, whose famous father died in 1811. Mr. Cook
had the house at #12 Pickman Street built several years later and owned
them both at the time of his death in 1815 . His children sold it in
1839 to James Kimball, whose daughter lived there until her death in
1923 . Kimball was the master of the brig Leander.
i #16 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This three-story plus hip roof, brick (Flemish bond) house was built
as a double house to be sold in 1806-1807 by David Lord, the builder.
This is the same David Lord who built the Pickering Dodge house at
#29 Chestnut Street in 1822-23 . The double house was sold bounded by
"the middle of the brick dwelling house" shortly afterwards and accord-
ing to Fiske Kimball is very like the Woman ' s Friend Society building
on Hawthorne Boulevard. The house has two fanlighted entrances : one
in the yard on Pickman Street and one facing Milk Street.
The windows are set in wide plane frames, a common feature until
about 1810, and have no decorative lintels above them, a feature which
seems to be limited to this immediate area in Salem. The house has
been vacant. for many years ; its windows are boarded up, and the stairs
are rotting.
MILK STREET BEGINS.
#18 Pickman Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This small two-story plus gambrel roof house faces Pickman Street and
has probably changed very little in exterior appearance since it was
built. The Federal period door with simple pilastered frame is on the
street; the house has a large central chimney. There is a small ell
behind the house, and the original clapboards are covered with siding.
144.
PICKMAN STREET - SOUTH SIDE (continued)
#182 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This two-story plus hip roof, square, wooden house has a projecting
pitch roof ell with a pronounced gable and triple-bay windows below,
which create the impression of complexity popular the latter part of
the 19th century. The front entrance is reached through a porch
supported by turned posts typical of the period as is the simple,
cut-out dentil strip on the cornice.
#20 Pickman Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
This small two-story plus gambrel roof house is very similar to #18
in character; it has a three-bay facade and boldly molded pediment
over the doorway. The original clapboards are now covered with siding.
On the west end a small stained-glass window has been installed,
probably during the end of the 19th century. There is an ell at the
back of the house.
#22 Pickman Street RATING: THREE: PERIOD: INDETERMINATE.
This two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house is very narrow
and has its gable end on the street. Itlack of detail and unusual
narrowness make it hard to date. It may be a workshop which was
converted into a house.
#24 Pickman Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This large two-story plus pitch roof, wooden (siding) house is also
gable end to the street, and has a "Victorian" entrance at one side
of the street end and a two-story high, four-window bay at the other.
The brackets under the eaves are very small and simple and few.
145.
PLEASANT STREET
The opening of the Essex Bridge to Beverly in 1788 spurred the
development of the area around the Common, and Bentley noted in 1795 that
there were "Exertions to open Pleasant Street into Bridge Street. "
Earlier the name Pleasant Street referred towhat is now Washington Square
East.
The street was laid out in 1796 and accepted in 1797 . Browne -writing
of his youth around 1800 said the only house on the street was that of
William B. Browne, built in 1799; this seems to have been on the site of
the present house at #35 . According to a photograph at the Essex Insti-
tute the original house was a typical simple pitch roof gable-end-to-the-
street wooden building. By 1803 Bentley reported "Several buildings going
on in Pleasant Street, " and a manuscript at the Essex Institute, compiled
about the same time, mentions two houses on the street, that of Joseph
Vincent, built by Hodges a cooper, and that of Ebenezer Goodhue; whether
that refers to Washington Square East or present--day Pleasant Street is
hard to know. When the city renamed the streets around the Common,
Pleasant Streetwas shortened and renumbered.
It seems likely that David Lord, the builder, had much to do with the
early growth of Pleasant Street} as other individuals were occasionally
active developing other streets . Lord is known as the architect for
Pickering Dodge when he built the large house atf;29 Chestnut Street. He
built the house at #23-25 Pleasant Street in 1825-26 and lived in the
southern half himself. He built #29 Pleasant Street in 1836, and the
1874 Atlas shows that #22-24 belong to the heirs of D�vLord. It seems
possible that he was involved with other property on the street also.
Generally speaking,, the houses on the west side of the street are older
than those on the east.
An old print at the Essex Institute shows the street lined with large
elm trees and "Old Salem Gardens" mentions it as a street of small
146.
PLEASANT STREET (continued)
gardens . George D. Phippen outgrew his garden on Bridge Street and
acquired a lot on Pleasant Street before he finally got two acres
between Bridge Street and Collins Cove where he had a tremendous garden.
PLEASANT STREET - WEST SIDE
#8 Pleasant Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This is basically a simple two-story plus pitch roof gable-end-to-the-
street house with two chimneys which seem to be Federal in shape. The
original house has been altered by the addition of two three-sided, two-
story bay windows and a two-story open veranda supported by square columns .
These modifications have greatly altered the original simple style of the
house.
#10 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
This also is a narrow and simple gable-end-to-the-street wooden house:
however, it has a gambrel roof, the only one on this street. The house
has two Federal chimneys and simple dormer windows ; the entrance on ahe
southern side of the house is hidden by two large evergreen trees. The
brick path through the side yard, wooden trellis and picket fence with
square capped fence posts are attractive accents to this old house, which
is architecturally intact.
#12 Pleasant Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This large two story plus pitch roof,wooden (siding) house with its gable
end on the street is a simple example of a double house of the end of the
1800 ' s . It has a Colonial Revival portico and high steps leading to the
two doorways which are side by side on the gable end beside a three-sided,,
two-story bay.
#14 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : GREEK REVIVAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof,gable-end-to-the-street ,wooden house is very
simple in style and appears from the north side to have escaped remodeling.
Its major feature is the fine Greek Revival doorway with its flat paneled
1470
PLEASANT STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
pilasters, six-pane sidelights and two-pane transom and mutules (little
drops ). The southern side of the house has been enlarged by a large
two-story bay and portico, wn ch completely alters its Greek Revival character..
The side yard is separated from the sidewalk by a, iron picket fence with
molded iron posts.
#16 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This is basically very similar to three or four other simple two-story
plus pitch roof. gable-end-to-the-street houses in this row. However, in
this case, the south facade of the wooden (siding) house has had a large
late 1800 ' s two-story porch added over the original Greek Revival entrance,
as well as a large square addition which projects from the end of the
facade. A smaller, older two-story plus pitch roof ell is attached to the
back of the house.
PARKER COURT BEGINS .
#18 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This seemingly small one-story plus pitch roof house (it is actually
L-shaped and larger than it looks) seems to combine two periods quite
successfully. It is first of all a Greek Revival structure with a matched-
board facade, high foundation, French windows and three dormers in the
roof. However, ornate brackets of the Italianate style and a double door
of the same period have been installed where once there was undoubtedly
a simple Greek Revival doorway.
#20 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : GREEK REVIVAL.
This is an excellent example of the small and very simple Greek Revival
one-story plus a pitch roof dwelling. It has a simple pilastered
entrance at one side of the gable or street end. Probably once the boards at
the corners of the house were wider and suggested the columns of a Greek
temple, but now this is apparently covered with new aluminum clapboard
siding. The house looks as neat as a small Greek temple should.
1480
f
e
PLEASANT STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
#22-24 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
This large three-story plus a pitch roof ;wooden house must have been one
of the first uilt on this street. It has two Federal style chimneys
and a fine entrance with a semicircular fanlight surmounted by a pediment
over the door, a style that lasted until around 1810 ; the entrance is in
the middle of the five-bay facade of the house, which is set back from the
street.
On the back and south sides of the house there is a large two-story
plus a pitch roof addition, which may actually pre-date the house, although
the street is thought not to have had any houses on it much earlier than
this .
#26-28 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : FEDERAL.
Like #22-24 Pleasant Street this also is a fine example of the large
rectangular three-storyfwooden house of the Federal period. In this case,
the house has a hip roof and the entrance with its semi eliptical fanlight
and side pilasters is in the middle of the five-bay facade in the yard.
#30 Pleasant Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD : THIRD QUARTER.
This simple two-story plus pitch roof ,,wooden • (siding) house in the
Italianate style is small enough to go well with its neighbors. It is
trimmed with paired brackets and hood moldings over the windows . The
entrance on the gable end is balanced by a three-sided bay beside it. A
small lean-to garage which is attached to the side of the house right
beside the front door detracts from the original style of the houE.
PICKMAN STREET CROSSES.
Beyond Pickman Street there is a one-storypitch roof) two-car garage
in an otherwise spacious yard.
#34 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD- FEDERAL.
This is the third large Federal period house on this side of Pleasant
Street . It has two stories plus a pitch roof and is gable end to the
street so that it faces Pleasant Street Aven A small Colonial Revival
1,49
PLEASANT STREET - WEST SIDE (continued)
bubble, part portico and part enclosed porchthas been added to house an
entrance on the gable end. The original entrance (now double) on the
south side has been altered by the addition of a heavy Italianate canopy
and brackets above the very long semi eliptical fanlight. Whether the
house always had a double doorway is unknown.
PLEASANT STREET - EAST SIDE
#15 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This is a small L-shaped., one-story plus Mansard roof2wooden house with
simple bold trim. There are many square topped dormer windows, and a
covered porch supported by square posts leads to the entrance near the
angle of the ell. One of the most unusual features of this house is in
there is a
its yard. wYerqAbquare gazebo in the Queen Anne style of the late 1800 ' s .
It has turned posts and a steep hip roof decorated with scalloped cresting
rails and cut-out scallops around the bottom of the roof.
WEBSTER STREET BEGINS
#17 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This large two-story plus pitch roofywooden house is in the Italianate
style and is architecturally intact. The entrance in the gable or street
end has ornate Victorian brackets and a bay window overhead. The long side
of the house on Webster Street is broken up by a large two-story. three-
sided bow and varied window treatments (entablatures and hood moldings) as
well as three pedimented dormer windows. There are Italianate brackets
under the overhanging eaves.
#19-21 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This is a large two-story plus Mansard roof wooden house of the same style
and general period as #17 . It faces the street and has a recessed central
entry with a canopy and bay window above it. There are a series of pedi-
mented dormer windows in the roof, and the first and second floor windows
which
are treated differently / was the style at that time.
150.
PLEASANT STREET - F..QST SIDE (continued)
#23-25 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This two-story plus pitch roof wooden house is directly on the street.
It has a high foundation and five-bay facade with a central recessed
entrance. Some of the trim is Greek Revival in character. The o<v:ner
has done some research on the house and says that it was originally a
double house, the northern half of which was moved to the location in 1825
and the southern half of which was built the next year. The gentleman
who did this is none other than David Lord, the builder, who lived in the
southern half.
SPRING STREET BEGINS.
#29 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : GREEK REVIVAL.
David Lord built this simple two-story plus pitch roof house facing
Pleasant Street in 1836. The original entrance has now been replaced by
one in the Italianate style with a divided door with round topped windows
in each half and with carved Gothic trim around the door frame. Victorian
consoles and a canopy complete the design. The house has a two-story ell
attached to the rear and three tall slender chimneys .
PICKMAN STREET CROSSES.
#31 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: THIRD QUARTER.
This is an outstandingly bold example of the architecture of the third
quarter of the 19th century. It is a large two-story plus hip roof
wooden building set back from the street on a raised terrace. The brackets
under the eaves are bigger than usual and less frilly since they are angular
rather than rounded. The front entrance is between -two square bay windows
and under a roof from which hang two very large turned drops. The corners
of the house are quoined and the facade is of matched boards. There is a
low iron picket fence around the property. This was once the home of
Captain Charles Millet.
#33 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD : THIRD QUARTER.
This handsome large two story plus pitch roof house set upon a high
151
I
PLEASANT STREET - FAST SIDE (continued)
granite foundation is interesting because it is either a late classical
house or an early example of the Colonial Revival style which reached its
height around the end of the 1800 ' s . The owner thinks it was built
around 1850 . It has a central entrance beyond a portico supported by
simple fluted columns . The entrance is in a slightly projecting bay with
a pediment at its top which breaks into the pitch roof of the house. The
house is trimmed with many modillions in the classic style and with
quoined corners .
In the yard there is a small two-story pitch roof chaise house trimmed
with the same modillions .
#35 Pleasant Street RATING: TWO. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This square wooden house has two stories plus a Mansard roof trimmed with
fish scale slates and pedimented dormer windows; it is built upon a terrace.
The central entrance portico is supported by square columns and has a
bay window above it. The house is trimmed with small scroll brackets and
has a fancy cast iron fence in front of it. In the yard behind the house
there is a large two-story wooden stable with a steeply pitched roof and
a facade gable . It is contemporary with the house and the exterior appears
to be unchanged. This is probably the site of the oldest house on
Pleasant Street, which was built in 1799.
152.
F
THE SALEM COMMON (See also Washington Square.)
Perley found the Common referred to as "Ye common commonly called
ye pen" in 1668 , the common in 1671 and the "Training field commonly
called ye pen" in 1694. H. B. Adams wrote in an article in the Essex
Institute Historical Collection that the present Common was a town waste
in the early days, and Bentley said it was called the Town Swamp. This
swampy land was not assigned to individuals for house lots, and on
that
May 8, 1685 , the town voted "the Common against the front of Governor
Bradstreet ' s pasture, is appointed a place in which persons may shoot at
a mark. " November 16, 1713 , the town voted that "the common lands
where the trainings are generally kept in the town nigh and before Mr.
Nathaniel Higginson' s Dwelling be and remain as it now lays to continue
forever for a Training Field for the use of the said town of Salem. "
At the same time it was also "Voated That all the Highways and Burying
Places and Common Lands lying within the Town Bridge and the Block houses
be And Remain for Ever for the use of the Town of Salem. "
The Salem Common remained a training field for many, many years
thereafter, although it can ' t have been a very comfortable area in which
to train because it had five ponds within its bounds as well as numerous
hillocks and swampy areas . In 1695 John Higginson and Jacob Manning
were granted the right to "turn the course of the water through the
i
Common from pond to pond until it might be carried into the main gutter
that runs down to the cove" (Collins Cove) . The land was not only wet
and uneven, but a Mrs. Babbidge, who died in 1804 aet. 90, told Bentley
that she used to pick berries on the Common; and. B. F. Browne wrote in
1862 that it had been unenclosed and stray geese, pigs and hens wandered
there. Perley said cattle were collected in a pen near present day
Williams Street prior to being driven to the Neck pasture.
There are several events which took place in the Common during
the latter part of the 18th century that give some idea of its use at
that time. The authors of Old Naumkeag tell the story as follows:
i[
In 1769 Thomas Row and Robert Wood, for giving information against
153.
c �
THE SALEM COMMON (continued)
a vessel in our harbor to His Majesty ' s officers were seized and
carried to a tree, which was termed the "Liberty Tree " on the Common
and there tarred and feathered. They were then set in a cart, with the word
' Informer 's placarded upon their breast and back, and led through the
streets, preceded by a crowd. A live goose was also repeatedly thrown
at them. At the end of the Main Street, the throng. . .bade them leave
the town. it
Phillips 1in Salem in the 18th Centurywrotethat the vessel was trying
to bring in goods without paying the newly enacted Stamp Tax, and that
the event took place a year earlier in 1768.
Governor Hutchinson, just prior to being supplanted by General
Gage as Governor in 1774, came to Salem and reviewed the First Essex
Regiment on the Common and was afterwards entertained handsomely by
Salem' s citizens, especially the Tory element, according to Phillips.
Robert Rantoul, writing in 1863, recalled standing on a chair in the
bedroom window of his grandfather' s house in 1781 to see the cannon fired
in . Pleasant Street (now Washington Square East) when the news that '
Cornwallis had capitulated reached Salem.
Bentley throughout his diary makes frequent references to the
state of the Common and to events taking place there. On February 11,
1790, he wrote "A Federal discharge of Cannon on the Common in honor of
the birth of our Illustrious President George Washington" . May 2, 1793 , he
wrote, "a canal dug down the Common to convey water from the street, " and
in 1795 he noted, "Ice in Pond on Common sufficient to bear the boys. "
By this time the streets around the Common, which were then known by
frequently changing names (See Washington Square) were opened, but those
streets which radiate off to the north aid east were not; instead tanyards
and ropewalks occupied those areas. There were several public buildings on
the Common itself, such as a charity house, gun house and school house,
which may be the one that was moved in 1803 to Forrester Street, and then
some years later moved to #14 Webb Street where the present owner recently
found evidence of a blackboard buried in an interior wall.
The transformation of the Common and the building of the large
brick mansions around it took place during the early 1800 ' s. On July 9,
154•
f
4 ' 6
THE SALEM COMMON (continued)
1801, Bentley wrote that the newspaper "proposed levelling the Common
and planting trees . " The same year Elias Hasket Derby was elected
Colonel of the newly reorganized Salem militia, and it was he who
sparked the private subscription to level the Common and lay it down to
grass with gravel walks, to plant a double row of Lombardy Poplar trees
around it and enclose it with a fence. The cost of this was $2, 625 .00, and
it was carried out in the spring of 1802 . Also subscribed was $327 .00
"For the purpose of executing the designs for four gateways as given by
Mr. S. McIntire, for ornamenting Washington Square. " These large orna-
mental carved gateways, one on each side, were put up within a few years
of the time the Common was leveled. Some of the carved motifs from the
gates may be seen now (1967) at the Essex Institute; they include a medallion
of Washington, which was on the western entrance. An illustration in
Bentley ' s Diary shows the West Gate as it was prior to its removal in
1850 ; probably the present iron fence was erected about that time.
On May 18, 1802, Bentley wrote, "It is said it is agreed to call
the Common which is now almost levelled and railed, Washington Square.
This is better than walking in common. " George Ropes, 101ho was "born deaf
and dumb but of clear intellect,' and who died aet. 31 in 1819s painted
a large picture of the Common on a training day which shows it with the
now unfamiliar looking rows of poplar trees; this picture is also at
the Essex Institute. B. F. Browne wrote of the poplars that it was
"soon discovered their decay was as rapid as their growth. " Bentley
put it even more strongly in 1818 when he said:
.'�-orrester 's money will serve to decorate Washingtai Square. . . .
Advertisements for Elms are in the newspapers . When the Lombardy poplars
came into fashion the rage for them was extreme. They were planted like
the[ Locust tree everywhere. They have lost1their reputation t:ho the handsomer
tree we have. They are not durable tho quick. They grow high, but they
spread below. They have insects, but large. Indeed the fashion is
against them. Posterity may profit from our elms .
And indeed we have, until recently.
There are occasional references made to the great Elm tree on the Common.
1770
THE SALEM COMMON (continued)
Bentley noted on October 16, 1786, "Was cut down the great Elm Tree at
the corner of the Street, facing the Common and leading to St. Peters
Church. " In the 1773 Report of the Committee on Streets printed in
as
Felt ' s Annals treaent-day Brown Streed is defined/running from St.
Peter ' s Church to the Elms. Miss Mary Narbonne, when she wasvery old,
reported that many years before there had been a tannery west of Williams
Street in front of which were three enormous elms; to advertise his
business, the tanner had inserted a large crudely carved, wooden hog
in the crotch of the tree; the wooden animal is now at the Essex
Institute. Perhaps this stand of large elms was about where the present
statue of Roger Conant is now.
In 1809 Bentley wrote, "Building goes on briskly in Salem. We
have six brick buildings now finishing in the eastern part of the town. . . . "
By this time most of the streets running north and east from the Common
were opened and built up. In 1819 he wrote, "We have made. great repairs
on our roads . Tons of earth and stones have been brought from Mill hill,
from Northfields & the Neck. The roads around Washington place are in
good repair. "
Both Mary Northend in Memories of Old Salem and Browne in a 1915
Essex Institute Historical Collection article wrote vivid descriptions
of the Common Training Day. Mary Northend wrote that the "tented field
drew a big and mixed assemblage.• 9,9 •11 People drank punch and e and
egg
bought gingerbread, and a Punch and Judy show and wrestling matches
evidently appealed to her as a young girl. Browne said, "Refreshment
tents were planted on each side of Newbury Street (west) , both sides of
Bath Street (south), and on the south side of Brown Street (north) , in
which were for sale various kinds of spirituous liquors and various kinds
of food and confectionery. . . .Of more humble character, would be tables
and stands of oysters. . . .Fights were not infrequent and attracted large
crowds. . . . '° The members of the militia must have considered the newly
leveled training field a great improvement over the prior swampy gound,
156.
L
THE SALEM COMMON (continued)
where Browne wrote he had seen an officer fall into a pond "to the
manifest derangement of his hat, plume and sword, and the soilment of
his breeches, coat, stockings and gaiters. "
According to the Salem City Manual, the Park Department acquired the
Common (about 9 acres) in 1928 as a playground. The Visitor ' s Guide
to Salem says the grandstand was built in 1926. The statue of Roger
Conant northwest of the Common was dedicated in 1913; it was designed by
Henry Kitson for the Conant Family Association to honor Salem' s first
leader and founder.
157.
SPRING STREET - SOUTH SIDE ONLY
There is little information available about Spring Street. It
does not appear on Saunders ' 1820 Map of Salem, although there is a
reference to a building there prior to that time. The photograph file
at the Essex Institute shows the Pulsifer carpet factory on SpripgStreet,
which is no longer standing, and the notation at one side identifies it
as having originally been Billy Gray' s sail-loft. Since Mr. Gray left
Salem in the early 1800 ' s.this implies that the land was built up by
then, unless the information is inaccurate..
According to B. F. Browne, Matthew Vincent, the son of Joseph
Vincent, founder of the ropewalk on the Common, had a house and cordage
factory on Spring Street which was later used for the manufacture of
duck. Browne also wrote that the street was laid out through open land
of Colonel Benjamin Pickman. . There were many springs in this area (See
Pickman Street) , and Bentley refers to Shallop Cape and Spring Cove in
1805, so presumably the street commemorates some Long-forgotten spring.
SPRING STREET - SOUTH SIDE.-
Most
IDE.Most of the buildings on this side of the street face Pickman
Street and are numbered there. About halfway down the street there .is
a modern multi-car garage. At the water end there are several houses
which are described below.
#16 Spring Street RATING: - THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This flat-roofed, three-story, wooden building is very narrow and very close
to its neighbors. It has a two-story bay window on the front as its only
architectural feature.
#18 Spring Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This two-story plu>pitch roof, gable end to the street building is a
small, simple wooden house of its time with a three-window bay on the
street and the doorway at the far end of a small porch to one side of the
main building.
#20 Spring Street RATING: THREE. PERIOD: FOURTH QUARTER.
This house is very similar to #18 Spring Street, i.e. it is a two-story
158
SPRING STREET - SOUTH SIDE continued
plus pitch roof, shingled house with its gable end on the street. A
bay window projects on the street end of the house and the entrance is
reached at one side through a porch with typical turned posts.
1590
l
F
ST.. PETER STREET
Saint Peter Street is one of the oldest streets in Salem. Perley
records that it was called the lane to the North River in 1660, and
was later known as Prison Lane because the jail which was in use during
the witchcraft ordeal was near the corner of St. Peter and Federal
Streets. Parts of the old jail were discovered within a much enlarged
and altered house when it was demolished to make room for the new
. telephone building; some of the timbers from it are now stored at the
Essex Institute. Prisoners going from the jail to Gallows Hill for
execution are said to have gone by way of St. Peter Street to Essex
Street. Prison Lane was renamed St. Peter Street in 1738, shortly
after the first St. Peter's Church was erected, according to Perley.
The North River once came up to the foot of St. Peter Street to
for
a cove known as Waller' s Cove named /thristopher. Waller. who lived
where the jail now is . When the railroad tracks were laid across
the mouth of this 'cove, the resulting enclosed body of water was
called St. Peter' s Basin according to the 1897 Atlas. Gradually all
of the cove was filled inland today there are no signs of Waller ' s
Cove. This area of Salem was once known as "Button Hole" for reasons
which are evidently lost in the past; perhaps some wag wanted to
dignify the area with a name, jealous of the fact that the High Street
Post Office section was called "Knocker ' s Hole. "
ST. PETER STREET - EAST SIDE #' s 24-50.
St. Peter ' s Church. RATING: ONE. PERIOD: GOTHIC REVIVAL.
The land on which this church stands was given for a church by
Philip English in 1733 . English, one of Salem' s most successful
merchants during the 17th Century,' was accused of being a witch in
1692, and both he and his wife fled with assistance from the Boston
jail to. New York and thus escaped being hanged at Gallows Hill. Mrs .
160.
ST. PETER STREET - EAST SIDE continued
English died shortly thereafter; Philip, a man of strong character
and conviction, and a believer in the Church of England, declined
to pay taxes to support the established Congregational Church during
the later years of his life and was threatened again with jail.
The first Church of England meeting house was built in 1733
and stoned during the Revolution; it was demolished in 1833, when
the present stone church was erected. Built of rough granite blocks,
the church faces Church Street; it is one-story high with a hip roof
and square, crenelated, projecting tower in the center of the facade.
The tall windows are Gothic in style. The building was enlarged by
an addition in 1845 and by an attached chapel dedicated in 1872.
On either side of the facade tower, small enclosed yards contain
some slate, crested gravestones of the 18th Century. Some of the old
Salem names on these memorials are Hathorne, Ingersoll, Manning,
Tousel, Palfrey, Bowditch, Pue and Saunders. A picture in the Church
of the earlier building shows that these burying yards were once
larger, and it also shows an old town pump in the street in front of
,the church. At one time a weeping willow, said to have been a cutting
from the tree at Napoleon ' s tomb, grew in the southwest front yard.
An excellent account of St. Peter' s . Church and its history, called
"A Brief History of St. Peter ' s Church was edited by Rev. Clinton W.
Macy and printed in 1958.
#24 St. Peter Street. PERIOD: 1930 ' s.
The Parish House of St. Peter' s Church was built in 1934. It is a
two-story, stucco or cement structure set back from the street.
#24-28 St. Peter Street. RATING: ONE. PERIOD: GREEK REVIVAL.
This two-story, brick, double house faces directly on St. Peter Street
161.
ST. PETER STREET - EAST SIDE continued
and has two recessedrmatching doorways in the center of the six-bay
facade. At either -end of the house there are two matching parapeted
chimneys. The brick entablature and dentil course under the eaves
and the plain brown stone lintels above the windows are the only
decorative details; the house is characterized by its simplicity and
symmetry. It is now used as a rectory by St. John the Baptist Church.
Both George Billias, biographer of General Glover, and Perle
Y
believed this to have been the site of the birthplace of General
John Glover, the donor of his ship Hannah, to General Washington;
Glover and his seafaring Marblehead regiment was responsible for
ferrying Revolutionary forces out of a difficult spot in Long Island
and later across the Delaware River for a successful attack. His
praises are sung both in Beverly and in Marblehead. Very few people
seem to realize that he was born in Salem on St. Peter Street.
St. John the Baptist Church. RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
St. John the Baptist Church is a brick building, setback from St.
Peter Street overlooking Federal Street . it was dedicated in 1826
and known at that time as The Second Baptist Church, the parishioners
having broken away from the First Baptist Church. Bentley comments
frequently and sometimes tartly on the growing popularity of "Immersions.
as he called it. In March 1816, he wrote, "A young man, lately a
common sailor, led this morning seven young females below our wharves
into the water for ba.ptism. . .They professed to be wonderfully edified.
Th. (ough) below freezing in open air."
The church became known as the Central Baptist Church in 1855,
and in 1909 it was bought by the Polish Catholic Church and called
St. John the Baptist Church. Originally, it was a typical Federal
162.
ST. PETER STREET - EAST SIDE continued
period brick church with a pitch roof and four-sided domed tower or
lantern. The gable end faced the street and contained three entrances
separated by pilasters. The building was first remodeled in 1867 and
extensively altered in 1877, when it was raised to give space for a
chapel in the basement. Within the last two decades the church has
been enlarged by the addition on the front of a projecting, pedimented
central bay.
St. John the Baptist School and Catholic Youth Center is housed
in a post-war, two-story, flat-roofed building northeast of the church,
set way back from the street.
The Ward House, which formerly stood north of St. John the Baptist
Church, was moved about 1910 to the yard behind the Essex Institute
and restored to its 17th century condition.
#48 St. Peter Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL.
This fine three-story brick house in the yard of the Salem Jail was
built for the Jail Keeper of Sheriff by the County. It is said to have
by
been designed by Samuel Field McIntire, or even/nis father who died in
1811, but the latter seems unlikely. It should be easy to search the
County records and document this house. Writing on December 21, 1813,
Bentley says, "The dwelling house in the yard (of the Jail) of brick
is finished outside in the brick work. . . . The house has a typical
Federal hip roof and fine portice supported by slender columns which
shelters the entrance with its fanlight and unusual sidelights; the
heart motif used in the sidelights is similar to that at the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts which came from Oak Hill in Peabody which is con-
sidered to have been the work of McIntire. The brickwork is Flemish
bond and the splayed stone window lintels suggest the reeding popular
in this period. Shaped bricks form the dentil cornice.
163.
ST. PETFXX STREET - EAST SIDE continued
South of the Sheriff ' s house there is a Federal period, two-story,
hip roofed, wooden chaise house to which several ells have been added.
#50 St. Peter Street RATING: ONE. PERIOD: FEDERAL AND
FOURTH QUARTER
The use of stone as a building material was rather an innovation in
Salem in the early 1800 ' s, when the original or eastern portion of
the Salem Jail was built. Bentley gives some dates for the work on
this massive building. November 5, 1811, he writes, "Preparations are
making for the New Gaol in this town., " , and two mays later he reports;
"The lower floor of the Stone Gaol in Salem is now laying upon stone
work eight feet deep. The building is 64 ':,y 38 . " Two years later he
notes, "The new Stone Gaol is finished in the best manner.
I should not
have preferred a wooden top . . . _ all the foundation walls of the enclo-
sure
clo-
sure of the Gaol are laid in stone deeply and firmly. "
Bentley ' s notes above refer to the original part of the jail, the
eastern wing. The old building was greatly enlarged to the west in
1884-1885 ; photographs at the Essex Institute show various stages of the
new construction. The new addition lacks the ornamentation customary
in the 1880 ' s, which suggests that it was designed to blend with the
old; similar massive stones were used. The two octagonal cupolas on
the building, one at the east and one at the west, are different, yet
they balance each other. The plain iron fence which surrounds the
enclosure rests on a heavy stone base.
164*
J