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Hawthorne at Salem

Buildings & Houses

Other Buildings

Other Buildings in Salem: Introduction

Hamilton Hall, 9 Chestnut at Cambridge St.
Hamilton Hall, 9 Chestnut at Cambridge St. (courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum; special thanks to Bryant F. Tolles, Jr.)
 
This section of the Website presents images and information on other buildings in Salem listed below that are not included in the other sections of the Buildings and Houses area of this Website. In some cases the buildings are related to Nathaniel Hawthorne; in other cases buildings are included to give a sense of Hawthorne's world and also of the Salem a visitor would encounter today. All of these buildings also appear on the 1840 and/or modern map of Salem.
  • Boston and Maine Railroad at the junction of Washington and Norman Streets 
     
  • Hamilton Hall 9 Chestnut St. at Cambridge St. 
     
  • The Salem Lyceum, 43 Church St 
     
  • The Almshouse at the Salem Willows 
     
  • Pioneer Village, Forest River Park, accessible from Clifton or West avenues

Images of Other Buildings in Salem


Boston and Maine Railroad Depot 
View from Riley Plaza looking across the site of the entrance to track of former Gothic revival train station which replaced the original wooden depot in 1846. Today the station is at the opposite end of Washington St.
View from Riley Plaza looking across the site of the entrance to track of former Gothic revival train station which replaced the original wooden depot in 1846. Today the station is at the opposite end of Washington St.
 (photography by Bruce Hibbard)
Salem Railroad Station, 2003
Salem Railroad Station, 2003
 (photography by Bruce Hibbard)
Salem Railroad Station. 2003
Salem Railroad Station. 2003 
 (photography by Bruce Hibbard)
Hamilton Hall, 9 Chestnut at Cambridge St.
Hamilton Hall, 9 Chestnut at Cambridge St.
This important example of Adamesque Federalist architecture in the U.S, designed by Salem's famous architect-carver, Samuel McIntire, was built from 1805-07 and named in honor of Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury. Its north side wall is particularly notable with its McIntyre carved eagle and the swags in panel inserts above the windows. In 1824 the west end of the building was completed, all except the doorway and Greek Revival portico, which were installed in 1845. Hamilton Hall was built as a place for Salem's wealthy families to socialize. In 1824 a ball was held in the second-floor assembly room to honor the visiting Marquis de Lafayette. Today the building features a ballroom with a "spring" dance floor and a curved musicians' balcony. It continues to be a center of social and cultural activity for the area. Margaret Moore in The Salem World of Nathaniel Hawthorne, describes one Salemite's memory of the dances held in Salem at Hamilton Hall in the late nineteenth century. According to Moore, Mrs. Eben Putnam, a resident of Salem in the late nineteenth century, "remembered the old Assemblies when dancing 'commenced at six and finished precisely at twelve'-even if in the middle of a dance" (88). According to Moore, Hawthorne took dancing lessons in 1818 from William Turner, who held an annual exhibition by his students, and again in 1820 from John M. Boisseaux (89), but there is no evidence that these lessons took place in Hamilton Hall. The caterer at Hamilton Hall was John Remond. He and his wife, Nancy, a noted cake maker, lived in an apartment on the first floor of Hamilton Hall and managed one of the two stores located in the Hall. Remond had come to Salem at the age of ten in 1798 on the ship Six Brothers and was employed as a baker by the brother of the ship's master. Two of the children of this respected black couple, Charles Lenox Remond (1810-1873) and Sarah Parker Remond (1824-1873), played important roles in the Abolition movement (139). (courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum; special thanks to Bryant F. Tolles, Jr.)
Salem Almshouse
Salem Almshouse
 (courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum; special thanks to Bryant F. Tolles, Jr.)
Postcard of the  Almshouse (Poorfarm) at Salem Willows (courtesy of <a  data-cke-saved-href='http://www.poorhousestory.com/poorhouses_in_massachusetts.htm' href='http://www.poorhousestory.com/poorhouses_in_massachusetts.htm'>Poorhouse History by state</a> )
Postcard of the Almshouse (Poorfarm) at Salem Willows (courtesy of Poorhouse History by state )
 
Entrance to Pioneer Village, Forest River Park, Salem
Entrance to Pioneer Village, Forest River Park, Salem
 (photography by Lou Procopio)
Building in Pioneer Village, now used as Admissions office; pillory in foreground
Building in Pioneer Village, now used as Admissions office; pillory in foreground
 (photography by Lou Procopio)
Pioneer Village Postcard
Pioneer Village Postcard
Pioneer Village Postcard Courtesy of Dark Horse Antiques, Dorchester, MA Darkhorseantiques@verizon.net
Pioneer Village Postcard
Pioneer Village Postcard 
Pioneer Village Postcard  Courtesy of Dark Horse Antiques, Dorchester, MA Darkhorseantiques@verizon.net
Pioneer Village Postcard
Pioneer Village Postcard 
Pioneer Village Postcard  Courtesy of Dark Horse Antiques, Dorchester, MA Darkhorseantiques@verizon.net
Pioneer Village Postcard
Pioneer Village Postcard 
Pioneer Village Postcard  Courtesy of Dark Horse Antiques, Dorchester, MA Darkhorseantiques@verizon.net

Critical Commentary Related to Other Buildings in Salem

East India Marine Hall, part of the Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St. Mall, Salem
East India Marine Hall, part of the Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St. Mall, Salem(courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum; special thanks to Bryant F. Tolles, Jr.)