The Salem Maritime National Historic Site is a National Historic Site consisting of 12 historic structures, one replica tall-ship, and about 9 acres of land along the waterfront of Salem Harbor in Salem, Massachusetts, United States. Salem Maritime is the first National Historic Site established in the United States. It interprets the Triangle Trade during the colonial period, in cotton, rum, sugar and slaves; the actions of privateers during the American Revolution; and global maritime trade with the Far East, after independence. The National Park Service manages both the National Historic Site and a Regional Visitor Center in downtown Salem. The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior.
Hamilton Hall is a National Historic Landmark at 9 Chestnut Street in Salem, Massachusetts. Designed by noted Salem builder Samuel McIntire and built in 1805–1807, it is an excellent instance of a public Federal style building. It was built as a social space for the leading families of Salem, and was named for Founding Father and Federalist Party leader Alexander Hamilton. It continues to function as a social hall today: it is used for events, private functions, weddings and is also home to a series of lectures that originated in 1944 by the Ladies Committee.
The Parker Tavern is a historic house museum in Reading, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1694, it is the oldest extant structure in Reading. The saltbox was built by Abraham Bryant, a farmer and blacksmith, and Ephraim Parker operated a tavern on the premises in the 18th century. It has been a local history museum since 1923, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The Battell House is a historic house located at 293 Haverhill Street in Reading, Massachusetts. Built about 1806, it is a fine local example of transitional Georgian-Federal architecture. It is notable as the home of Charles Battell, a veteran of the American Civil War. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Capt. Nathaniel Parker Red House is a historic house at 77–83 Ash Street in Reading, Massachusetts. It is a 2+1⁄2-story vernacular Georgian house, five bays wide, with entrances on its north and south facades. The southern entry is slightly more elegant, with flanking pilasters and a transom window. The house was built sometime before 1755, and was already a well-known landmark because it was painted, and served as a tavern on the coach road. The Tavern served as a meeting place for many revolutionaries and minute men, notably Marquis de Lafayette, and Alexander Hamilton. The house remained in the hands of militia captain Nathaniel Parker and his descendants into the late 19th century. The construction of the Andover Turnpike in 1806–07, bypassing its location, prompted a decline in the tavern's business.
The Common Historic District is a historic district encompassing the civic and institutional heart of Reading, Massachusetts. The district is centered on the town common, at the intersection of Main and Salem Streets. The common has been communally owned since at least 1737, with the original burying ground to the north. In 1769 the area's first meeting house was built, giving the area a sense of identity separate from portions of Reading that would later be set off as Wakefield and North Reading. Since then the area has become a focal point for religious and civic institutions in the town.
The Harnden–Browne House is a historic house at 60-62 Salem Street in Reading, Massachusetts, exemplifying the adaptation of older buildings to new architectural styles. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was built in 1831 by Sylvester Harnden, likely in a Georgian-Federal vernacular style. Later in the 19th century it was restyled with some Queen Anne details, and converted to a boarding house. In 1928 it was owned by Thomas Browne, an Irish immigrant who first roomed in the house.
The House at 42 Salem Street in Reading, Massachusetts is a transitional Greek Revival-Italianate house. Built sometime before 1854, its gable end faces the street, with the door on the left bay of three, a typical Greek Revival side hall layout. The doorway is topped by a heavy Italianate hood. The windows have shallow pedimented lintels, and the left facade has a projecting square bay. The house was occupied for many years by S. H. Dinsmore, a cabinetmaker who originally worked from a shop in the rear of the property and later moved to a larger space a short way down Salem Street. The house is typical of small industry that developed along Salem Street in the second half of the 19th century. It is next door to the Washington Damon House.
The House at 79–81 Salem Street, also known as the Samuel Allen House, in Reading, Massachusetts was a modest Greek Revival two-family cottage. The wood-frame house was built sometime between 1830 and 1854 was a typical vernacular Greek Revival house, with a five-bay facade and a paired central entrance. When the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, the two entrances were flanked by pilasters supporting an unusually tall entablature; the house was later covered in synthetic siding, and a projecting portion at the top of the entablature was removed. The structure was completely torn down in 2021 for new construction.
The Joseph Parker House is a historic house at 107 Grove Street in Reading, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was probably built around 1795, when it first appeared on local maps. It is predominantly Federal in its styling, with smaller second-story windows and boxed cornices. Its center entry surround is a Greek Revival feature, with an architrave surround with corner blocks and half-length sidelight windows. The house's notable occupants include Loea Parker, who died in the War of 1812, and F. Howard Gilson, an early experimenter in photography. From 1910 to 1932 it was owned by the Fathers' and Mothers' Club, which used it as a country retreat for urban youth.
The Nathaniel Batchelder House is a historic house at 71 Franklin Street in Reading, Massachusetts. Built sometime between 1753 and 1765, it is a prominent local example of Georgian architecture. It is also significant for its association with several members of the locally prominent Batchelder family. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Parker House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. It is a two-story wood-frame cottage, two bays wide, with a front-facing gable roof, clapboard siding, and a side entrance accessed from its wraparound porch. It is a well-preserved example Queen Anne/Stick style, with high style features that are unusual for a relatively modest house size. Its front gable end is embellished with Stick style woodwork resembling half-timbering, and the porch is supported by basket-handle brackets.
The Pierce House is a historic house at 128 Salem Street in Reading, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was built sometime between 1875 and 1880 for Samuel Pierce, owner of the nearby Pierce Organ Pipe Factory. The house has Stick style/Eastlake style features, including a steeply pitched gable roof with exposed rafter ends, and an elaborately decorated entry porch with square chamfered columns and brackets in the eaves.
The former Reading Municipal Building is a historic building at 49 Pleasant Street in Reading, Massachusetts. Built in 1885, this two-story brick building was the town's first municipal structure, housing the town offices, jail, and fire station. In 1918 all functions except fire services moved out of the building. It now serves as Reading's Pleasant Street Senior Center. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Samuel Parker House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts, United States. The front, gambrel-roofed portion of this house, was probably built in the mid-1790s, and the house as a whole reflects a vernacular Georgian-Federal style. The house is noted for a succession of working-class owners. Its most notable resident was Carrie Belle Kenney, one of the earliest female graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Thomas Symonds House is a historic house at 320 Haverhill Street in Reading, Massachusetts. Built sometime between 1775 and 1836 by Thomas Symonds, Jr., it is the only Federal period brick-ended house in the town, and is unusually architecturally sophisticated for the period in the town. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The William Parker House is a historic house at 55 Walnut Street in Reading, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was built c. 1796, was expanded early in the 19th century into a two family residence, and converted back into a single family in the early 20th century. It is notable for its association with William Parker, a dissenter from the doctrines espoused by the local Congregational Church. In 1849 he joined with other members of his extended family in splitting the congregation.
The Elias Boardman House is a historic house at 34 Salem Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Built in 1790, it is one of the city's most elaborate examples of Federal period architecture. It was built by Elias Boardman, and was dubbed Boardman's Folly for its extravagance. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The House at 113 Salem Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts is a rare well-preserved example of a 19th-century shoemaker's shop. The 1+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was built in the 1840s or 1850s, and was originally the shoe shop of David Nichols, who lived at 103 Salem Street. Its early form, with the high-pitch, gable roof, is readily recognizable despite later alterations and additions. These types of buildings were once common in the town, where shoemaking was a home-based cottage industry.
This is a timeline of the history of the city of Salem, Massachusetts, United States.
