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streetsofsalem.com
Architecture, history and culture from a Salem, Massachusetts based academic and perspective
Salem Women’s History Month 2024
2024-03-27 16:41
As kind of a follow-up to that big commemorative year of 2020, during which I focused on Salem women’s history every Saturday in commemoration of the centennial suffrage anniversary, I… Read More
The Grass Is Greener
2024-03-20 15:51
I’m home now from my spring break road trip, so this is part two: the way home. Looking through my photographs, all I could think of was green. You know I’m a die-hard… Read More
The Road To Mount Vernon
2024-03-13 07:40
We have spring break this week, so I’m on one of my road trips, loosely following the footsteps of George Washington. I always feel like I need a theme beyond “interesting old ho… Read More
Dorothy Talby
2024-03-05 13:29
I’m starting out Women’s History Month with a Salem tragedy of the seventeenth century, and gratitude that this story popped into my mind at this time, better late than never. I… Read More
“In My Joy I Was As A Bouncing Sparrow”
2024-02-26 14:11
We are in the last week of February and I have yet to produce a post for Black History Month, so here it is!  I like to engage with historical markers and months; it keeps history &ldqu&hell…Read More
A Salem Walking Tour For Presidents Day
2024-02-19 22:24
Sorry I’m a little late with this Presidents Day post, but I woke up this morning with an earnest desire to take a walk around Salem, an urge I haven’t felt for quite some time… Read More
St. Valentine’s Day Comes To Salem
2024-02-14 12:48
So many Valentine’s Day posts! But I never wondered how this holiday was first observed in Salem until I came across an interesting newspaper article from the Salem Gazette i… Read More
History By Hancock
2024-02-06 15:01
I’m always attracted to mid-century messaging; advertising seems to explode around that time and much of it reflects contemporary society, for better or worse. I came across some &ldqu&hell…Read More
Glover Squad
2024-01-30 12:38
With my February 1 deadline constantly in mind, I worked intently on the Salem book all weekend with the exception of Saturday afternoon and early evening, when my husband and I drove over t… Read More
Salem 1799
2024-01-22 14:29
I always tell my students forget dates, you can always look them up, dates are a terrible way to learn history, but sometimes dates just stand out: 1348, 1517, 1776, 1789, 1914. Th… Read More
Good Queen Bess
2024-01-17 15:25
It’s the first week of a new semester, and I’m still working on my Salem book for imminent submission, so I have to admit that I don’t have much time or energy to post here… Read More
The Salem Tercentenary, 1926
2024-01-07 16:11
As I’ve been finishing up the manuscript of our 4o0th anniversary volume, Salem’s Centuries, I’ve been writing and thinking about Salem’s 300th anniversary quite… Read More
2024: The Anniversary Year
2024-01-01 17:49
Happy New Year! I’m a firm believer in “anniversary history” and I like to start out the new year previewing (or guessing) what commemorations we might see. This past year… Read More
Holiday Tables
2023-12-23 02:20
If I’m hosting for Christmas or any other holiday, I spend more time thinking about the table than the menu: much more time. I love setting the table, and once I attain my &l&hell…Read More
Salem And The Boston Tea Party
2023-12-13 20:16
I’m excited about this weekend’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party: while the regional Revolution 250 initiative has been geared up for some time, I… Read More
Before, During And After The Revolution
2023-11-15 14:24
I have been thinking about Salem during the American Revolution quite a bit over the past few months. It’s yet another era in Salem’s history which is tragically under-represente… Read More
Salem’s Bêche-de-mer Boom
2023-11-08 12:23
Back in Salem until I take off for Scotland at the end of next week. I’ve got lots of teaching, writing, and organizing to do, but I ignored all of my obligations last weekend and read… Read More
Salem In The Press, 2023 Halloween Edition
2023-11-01 09:11
Since I’ve been living outside of Salem for the past month, only coming in for classes and shooting right back to Maine on my (not-so) secret routes, I followed the press coverage on s… Read More
Meeting Houses Of Rockingham County
2023-10-24 12:49
(Sorry—I have been reading and writing about meeeting houses for the past few months but still do not know if their identifier is one word or two). On this past Sunday, a rather dreary… Read More
Blocked Path
2023-10-19 16:18
The house which represents refuge from Salem October is the house I grew up in, a shingle “cottage” in York Harbor which is on the main street but also adjacent to a lane which&n&hell…Read More
Sanctuary From Salem 2023
2023-10-11 11:12
The last time I wrote that title—with another date, 1693—it was nine years ago and I was referring to Salem Witch Trials refugee Sarah Towne Clayes, who found sanctuary in Framin… Read More
It Happened In Town House Square
2023-10-04 11:16
I didn’t expect to be posting on Salem for a while as I’m on my way to Maine to escape the Halloween Hordes (haven’t quite broken away yet!) but I’m in the midst of w… Read More
Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
2023-09-26 20:32
Love that song, although I never realized its lyrics were so risque (“horizontally speaking”)! The title is how I feel living in Salem most of the time now, especially bewildered… Read More
Late Summer At Greenwood Farm
2023-09-19 10:57
I’ve been talking walks at Trustees of Reservations properties all summer long, so it seems appropriate to end the season with a post on one: Greenwood Farm in Ipswich, Massachusetts… Read More
The Summer Of Old Photographs
2023-09-12 11:46
I worked all summer long on my chapters for Salem’s Centuries and a few other projects, researching and writing, researching and writing, researching and writing. Once I&rsqu&hell…Read More
Tips For Salem “Septoberween”
2023-09-05 22:11
Residents of Salem have long noticed that our city’s Halloween festivities are not confined to October, hence “Septoberween,” a phrase I’ve heard once or twice. It&rs&hell…Read More
Treasure House
2023-08-28 11:13
Treasure House. That’s how the guide introduced the Codman Estate in Lincoln, Massachusetts, long known as “The Grange,” at the beginning of her tour the other day. It… Read More
Salem’s Wooden Watchman
2023-08-21 14:35
Before there was Samuel McIntire, there was Lemon Beadle. Remember that name: Salem’s nineteenth-century antiquarians certainly wanted us to. Sometimes “Lemuel” is the… Read More
Twilight Time
2023-08-14 12:01
Pardon me, I’ve got to engage in some historiography. The history of historical interpretation can be a deadly topic in the context of precise historical events or periods, b… Read More
2023-08-07 18:28
I have felt vulnerable all summer long, while working on my contributions for our Salem book: my chapters relate to academic fields for which I have no professional preparation, including Af… Read More
2023-08-01 12:30
I could have named this post “boats and blooms” because that’s about all I have to offer: this has been a working summer and I am running out of steam so no controversies… Read More
Preservation Poloroids
2023-07-24 13:40
I have heard, and read about, Salem’s experience with urban renewal many times, including first-hand accounts, so I thought I understood its causes, course and impact pretty well, but… Read More
Lafayette, You Are Here!
2023-07-16 12:19
I’ll drive down to Newport, Rhode Island for any occasion, and Bastille Day seemed like a good one as French expeditionary forces landed there in 1780 as part of their formal and perso… Read More
Sedgwick Sanctuary
2023-07-09 15:58
Yesterday I learned a new word, drumlin, a long, flat-topped hill formed by glaciers, during my visit to the appropriately-named Long Hill in Beverly, one of the properties of the… Read More
Colorways: A Parade Of Portsmouth Doors
2023-07-01 10:58
I’ve been in York Harbor all June and just returned to Salem. It was a very productive month removed from daily tasks and diversions, but I missed certain things and people: my husband… Read More
A Big Move
2023-06-26 14:41
No, not me: the Crowninshield-Bentley House! Visiting Louise DuPont Crowninshield’s former garden in Marblehead last week prompted me to reconsider her impact on Salem as a preservatio… Read More
The Elizabeth Perkins House
2023-06-12 11:27
One of the chapters I’m working on for Salem’s Centuries this summer is about Colonial Revival Salem, or should I say, a group of antiquarians who lived and worked in S… Read More
One Hero And 17 Rescinders
2023-06-05 17:22
I am staying in my family’s house in York Harbor for the month of June, mostly writing with occasional breaks for gardening and sightseeing. But you know me: I can never really get awa… Read More
A Neighborhood Besieged
2023-05-30 11:28
A dynamic, healthy city is composed of neighborhoods: this is a time-honored, universal observation, so much so that I believe it is a truism. It follows that municipal leaders should p… Read More
Some Salem News And Views
2023-05-19 20:02
A whirlwind of a week! Or should I say a rollercoaster, from my personal perspective. Against the backdrop of finishing the semester, grading and graduation was Salem’s special mayoral… Read More
A Visual History Of Home
2023-05-10 13:21
My mind is whirling these days: we’re at the end of the semester, and a teaching-free summer lies ahead of me, but so do three writing projects, maybe more. I’m always thinking… Read More
A Coronation Primer
2023-05-02 20:43
Time to put some of my day job perspectives out there: it’s not every day/year/decade/half-century that we get to see a British coronation! I’m kind of excited; I even dusted off… Read More
The Aesthetics Of Ancestry
2023-04-26 01:42
I’m still simmering with anger and frustration over Salem’s “new” “Heritage” trail, confined to the downtown, anchored by commercial establishme… Read More
Connecticut Calm (Waters)
2023-04-18 11:44
I’m generally anxious around this time of year, approaching the end of the semester, but this year I am particularly so: I seem to be uneasy in general and in Salem in particular. The… Read More
What The Judge Ate
2023-04-11 12:26
And drank. Today I have a new source (to me anyway) for food history: the diary of a Colonial judge who rode the circuit, keeping accounts of his tavern food and drink along the way. I&rsquo&hell…Read More
Public Works: Salem 1957-1958
2023-04-04 13:12
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great… Read More
Mid-Atlantic Majesty
2023-03-29 12:11
This has happened to me before: I have this notion of Boston/Salem pre-eminence in all material Federal, and then I see something from Philadelphia or Baltimore, or on my most… Read More
Little Brick Houses
2023-03-21 16:46
Last week was my spring break, and I was determined to get away after spending the past three right here at home during the prolonged Covid Time. I wanted to drive off alone so I could indul… Read More
The Golden Ball Tavern
2023-03-14 16:07
It’s spring break week and I’m slowly making my way down to “New Sweden” but as I write this I’m stuck in a snowstorm at my brother’s house in New York! I… Read More
March Memorials In Boston
2023-03-09 02:47
This past Sunday, the anniversary of the Boston Massacre, I went into Boston to take the “Massacre and Memory” tour offered by Revolutionary Spaces, the newish organization that… Read More
When Salem Had Castles
2023-02-22 12:22
I’ve got castles on my mind: all my courses this semester have an architectural theme and I’m in the midst of long survey of encastellation in my medieval course, using castle-bu… Read More
Adorning Hearts
2023-02-14 13:00
Something light and bright, fluffy and joyful and merely decorative for Valentine’s Day: I wanted to use the occasion to reaquaint myself with some decorative arts databases. Between m… Read More
Paint It Black
2023-02-08 12:13
There are more and more and more witch shops in Salem, or perhaps I better loosen up that description to goth shops or macabre markets? In any case, our local chronicler had to reassure his… Read More
A Slave Trader In Salem
2023-02-01 12:44
I’ve learned a lot about Salem’s African-American history while writing this blog; I don’t think I would look at the city the same way otherwise. I associate Chestnut Stree… Read More
Some Great Early Gloucester Houses
2023-01-24 18:06
I feel like I should know more about Gloucester, the port city about a half hour to the north of Salem. I have quite a few Salem friends who have summer homes in Gloucester, or have moved to… Read More
Beverly Jogs
2023-01-18 12:29
I was following the discussion on a facebook group dedicated to the restoration of Colonial homes the other day, very deliberately avoiding preparing my syllabi for the new semester, when th… Read More
Secret Staircases
2023-01-10 23:04
Every old house has secrets, but every old house does not have deliberately-constructed secretive places for hiding or hidden means of conveyence: such spaces are special. Novelists love sec… Read More
When The Frame Is In The Picture
2023-01-03 12:40
Starting 2023 off with some color and creativity; I need some brightness. There is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I which I have long admired: it’s from relatively early in her rei… Read More
Anniversary History: Local Edition 2023
2022-12-27 21:47
Looking ahead to the new year from a local history perspective, there are commemorative moments for at least six events: five European settlements and a tea party, the 250th Anniversary of t… Read More
A Big End-of-year Book Post
2022-12-19 12:56
I always do a book post at this time of year for several reasons: it’s fun to go through the mental process of compiling “best of” lists, I like to offer gift suggestions… Read More
Christmas Trim
2022-12-04 22:07
It’s going to be a super busy December, so I got a jump start on decorating my own house: we have eight fireplaces with mantles plus several other surfaces which “require”… Read More
Deerfield Thanksgiving
2022-11-26 13:18
I know that it was a back-to-big-family-Thanksgiving for many people, but because of health and almost-conflicting family events my husband and I found ourselves alone this year. We made a l… Read More
Daniel Low And The Art Of Advertising
2022-11-21 16:14
Very often, one of Salem’s longest-running and best-known businesses, Daniel Low & Company, is reduced to a pioneering seller of witch wares with their souvenir witch spoons and ot… Read More
A Cooper’s Shop For Sale
2022-11-14 12:26
Wow, I don’t think I’ve posted on Salem real estate for quite some time! I’ve just been so serious, but actually there’s not much point: generally as soon as somethin… Read More
The Skeletons Of Lagrange Street
2022-11-01 12:48
Salem is a place where everybody always says that the “past is present” or something to that effect; one discerns the ongoing presence of the past in the old structures… Read More
A Salem Ghost Story
2022-10-23 15:47
Even though I recognize no connection between Halloween in general and the Salem Witch Trials (because #theywerenotwitches) and for that reason don’t particularly care for Salem Hallow… Read More
Revenues And Reparations In The Witch City
2022-10-18 11:40
I often find that my profession and my residence are in conflict: it’s challenging to be an historian in Salem, especially at this time of year. More than one person has suggested that… Read More
Flight To Newbury
2022-10-11 11:26
While I usually make plans to be as far away from Salem as possible on Columbus/Indigenous Day weekend to avoid the crowds and traffic, we had obligations this year so I was stuck in town. I… Read More
The Most Magical Plants
2022-10-03 13:51
Well, October is upon us here in Salem, so that means I’m going to spend all my time inside or on the road. I’m just not a fan of Haunted Happenings, the City’s Halloween f… Read More
My Salem Heritage Trail
2022-09-27 13:08
I’m still frustrated with our city’s “revisioned” “heritage” trail: its blatant commercialism, its yellow color (the exact same shade as the lines in the… Read More
Open House In Essex County
2022-09-12 19:55
It occurred to me the other day that during the long life of this blog I have never spotlighted Trails and Sails, a calendar of dedicated events and openings throughout Essex County in… Read More
Dickinson Domicile
2022-09-06 12:21
I drove “out west” to the recently-reopened Emily Dickinson Museum last week thinking it would just be a pleasant last road trip of the summer during which I would learn a bit mo… Read More
The Wentworth-Gardner House
2022-08-29 15:36
We were in York Harbor all last week with family and friends, several of whom had never been to this region of New England before. So I was a bit of a tour guide, in my fashion. On a morning… Read More
Massachusetts Route 57
2022-08-22 21:15
I have taken a lot of road trips this summer: west, south, north. On my way to any place in the first two directions, I’ve tried to explore a territory I call “middle Massachuset… Read More
Hooked On Kinderhook
2022-08-15 12:08
I made a very quick trip out to the Hudson River Valley at the beginning of last week to visit my brother and brother-in-law, and despite its brevity I still made some discoveries, including… Read More
A July Afternoon, Old Lyme
2022-07-31 16:47
One hot morning last week I was looking at some paintings by the American Impressionist artist Matilda Browne (1869-1947) when I realized I wanted to see more. It was apparent that the best… Read More
An Enigmatic Etcher
2022-07-27 01:18
I wanted to share some examples of the work of the Salem artist George F. White, Jr., better known as George Merwanjee White (1849-1915), but I wish I could also share more details about his… Read More
The Golden Goose
2022-07-20 11:18
Last week Salem’s new Heritage Trail, or at least the foundation thereof, was revealed with a report to the Salem Redevelopment Authority (SRA) and the launch of a new website. The out… Read More
The Justin Morrill Homestead
2022-07-12 18:26
Another week: another pink Gothic Revival house! If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a Gothic Revival kick for a while. It’s a style you can’t help but notice, and S… Read More
Roseland Cottage
2022-07-05 12:57
In the last week of June I drove down to the “quiet” northeastern corner of Connecticut to see a house that was a major presidential July 4th destination in the later ninete… Read More
I Went For The Wallpaper
2022-06-28 11:52
I love Waterhouse Wallhangings, a company which has been manufacturing wallpapers based on historical patterns for decades, and will do anything or go anywhere to see their papers… Read More
After The Fire: A New Salem Saltbox
2022-06-24 11:14
I like to recognize the anniversary of the Great Salem Fire (June 25, 1914) every year, or most years, as it was such a momentous event in so many ways, starting, of course, with sheer destr… Read More
A Juneteenth Tour Of Salem
2022-06-20 12:36
I like to craft my own walking tours for every major holiday just for myself, so that I can get in the proper celebratory or thoughtful frame of mind. This weekend, I put together my first J… Read More
Landmark Lineage
2022-06-16 11:08
I’ve been obsessed with the work “landmark” ever since the Samantha statue incident of last week: a succession of news stories in the days following reported the… Read More
Local Color: Salem June 2022
2022-06-11 21:25
This is going to be an odd post which will start out sweet and end up a bit sour, but I can promise you that it will be colorful throughout. There’s one aspect of Salem’s history… Read More
A Salem Slaver
2022-06-06 13:22
It’s beautiful here in Salem and I had a very colorful post all lined up for you: gardens, the arts festival, blue trees, doors of many colors, cats, my lady’s slippers, simple p… Read More
The Jeremiah Lee Mansion
2022-06-02 15:13
There are two structures which made an impression on me early in my childhood and sort of set the standard for historic grandeur in my mind: Dartmouth Hall at Dartmouth College, where my fat… Read More
Tattered Flags
2022-05-28 20:25
The Civil War began with the lowering of a tattered 33-star flag from Fort Sumter in 1861 after which tattered flags defined, symbolized and memorialized the bravery, sacrifices and experien… Read More
Can’t We Copy Concord?
2022-05-23 20:09
The Concord Museum has been one of my favorite local history museums for some time, but I haven’t been there since the completion of a major expansion and reinterpretation initiative d… Read More
Lilac Days
2022-05-18 17:54
Lilacs are so ubiquitous in New England in May that you tend to overlook them, but over the past pleasant days I have been seeking them out in some of my favorite spots. I’m always so… Read More
Selling Seeds
2022-05-13 11:40
A rather fluffy post on seed packets for this week: it’s grading time! This combination of gardening + paper, two of my favorite things, is irresistable to me at all times, but I have… Read More

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