THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Originally posted Saturday, September 22, 2007

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

(Note: the photos that originally appeared with this post will be reinserted in due course.)

Federal Street

During a mid-June visit to my hometown, nestled in the heart of colonial New England along its rocky coast, I walked the narrow streets of my childhood and captured these moments in time. I am rooted here, as is America. Settled in 1626, the blood of revolutionary patriots was shed on its streets. Come with me and I’ll show you some of my favorite places. Click photos to enlarge. Welcome to Historic Salem, birthplace of a nation…

Botts Court is a small alleyway that connects Essex with Chestnut Streets. It’s a cozy and snug little byway, noted for its profuse gardens and colonial architecture. Harry Potter’s favorite candies were Bertie Botts. A connection?

Botts Court
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The Salt Box
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A typical saltbox-style home found throughout the Witch City. Many of them bear plaques identifying them as historic landmarks.

 

River Street
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This is the neighborhood where my father, son of Italian immigrants, grew up. He left at 18 to join the US Navy where he wanted to do his part in fighting the war. River Street was home to first generation families who understood hard work and education gave hope for a better life for their children. Gentrification has lovingly restored the structures, most built in the 1700s. Though the street is narrow and and the houses small and congested, River Street holds a world of memories for me.

 

My Father’s House

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Washington Street – Downtown
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Cobblestones were used for ballast in sloops, packets, schooners and clipper ships that sailed from Salem Harbor to the East Orient. For 200 years, the city was one of the busiest ports in North America. After the Revolutionary War, Salem merchants began trading in ports as far away as China, India, and Sumatra. In 1839, Salem paid tribute to its glorious maritime past by adopting the motto “To the Farthest Ports of the Rich East”.

 

Essex Street – Almy’s Store Clock
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From the 1940’s through the 70’s, Almy, Bigelow & Washburn was the city’s largest store. My grandfather’s brother “Uncle Joe” made his living selling furniture there. Our shoes were repaired and re-soled by “the cobbler”, a little man with a toothpick in his mouth who labored in a basement shop redolent with smells of leather and shoe polish. Almy’s creaking wooden floors and glass merchandise cases are long gone, replaced with modern condos that soar several stories atop the original two-story building. But Almy’s clock still stands, a reminder of times past.

Welcome!
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A gate opens to this genteel early 19th century home on Essex Street. Its open porch suggests contemplation or conversation. The view? Lushly verdant and tranquil. (Psst… look closely. A pair of rockers invite us to relax and enjoy the moment… )

 

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The McIntire District
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Colonial architect and master craftsman Samuel McIntire (1754-1811) designed many of Salem’s finest homes. This bronze plaque embedded in one of the city’s ubiquitous brick sidewalks identifies the McIntire District, noted for its refined classical Greek and Roman style mansions.

Hamilton Hall
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A superb example of the Adam-esque Federal style for which McIntire was known, Hamilton Hall is at the heart of the District on Chestnut Street, Salem’s magnificent mansion-lined boulevard laid out in 1796, one of the most architecturally significant streets in America.

 

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Fragrant June Roses…
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… climb over each other in pink profusion, stretching their stems to show their cheery blooms through fence pickets that border a stately old home on Chestnut Street.

The Grace Church
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The hasps on these red doors are a bit “Bewitching”, wouldn’t you agree? You never know… Samantha, Hepzebah, Esmeralda and their Witch City coven cousins just might emerge to cast a spell!

So old, some are cracked in half
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Salem is dotted with cemeteries bearing testament to those long departed, most notably the Old Burying Point or Charter Street Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Salem, and the second oldest known cemetery in the country, started in 1637. Located next to the Witch Trials Memorial, it contains many famous individuals such as Jonathan Corwin and John Hawthorne, who were judges in the Salem witch trials. These tombstones have been at the entrance to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church for nearly 400 years.

Look closely at the sign below to read when the church was founded.

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The East India Marine Hall

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The Peabody Maritime Museum is the oldest continuously operated museum in the United States. It houses the country’s finest collection of South Pacific and Far East artifacts. Items from Canton, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras are displayed, many of which graced the homes of Salem’s wealthiest families of the 18th and 19th centuries.

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The Bandshell at Salem Common on Washington Square

After Salem’s great fire of 1914 which cut a destructive path through much of the city, the eight-acre Common was filled with tents to house those who had lost homes in the fire’s devastation. My maternal grandmother, who was then just a young teen, was among them. Look closely at the photo (below left) and see boats dotting Collins Cove, a familiar sight in this coastal city. The photo at right illustrates frequent brine-scented fogs that creep in and shroud the city in mysterious moods.

 

(Giving credit where it’s due, both photos below were taken by Jim McAllister).

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World War II Memorial
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An example of how Salem honors its war dead, this monument to Salem’s sons sits at the entrance to Salem Common, a green jewel in the heart of the city also known as Washington Square. It is encircled by many magnificent homes built by sea captains who made fortunes sailing to exotic ports of call. Some of those ports were later visited by Salem’s soldiers who fought to defend our freedom.

 

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Coming next — the gothic jailhouse, the witch museum, and other points of interest. I hope to acquaint you with the little New England town where pioneers settled and grew the village called “Naumkeag” into one of Boston’s most charming and richly historic North Shore communities. It’s so much more than “witches”.Welcome to Salem. To the farthest ports of the rich East and back, there’s no place like home.

 

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