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And Hawthorne’s novel is set and heavily influenced by the spirit and guilt of that age. At age 9, Hawthorne injured his leg and was confined to the home for two years. It was during this time that he developed a love of books and reading.
Salem’s Mini Shared Libraries
Today, PEM is a museum of art and culture that celebrates Salem’s connections to the world, as well as its seafaring past. They offer a variety of family activities, from hands-on exhibits to weekend festivals and story time. While visiting, be sure to explore the museum’s maritime collections, including elaborate ship models, scrimshaw and cool navigational instruments! And, visit the Dotty Brown Art & Nature Center for kid-friendly activities, discovery drawers, games and computer stations.
A Trip to The House of the Seven Gables in Salem Massachusetts
Within a 5-minute walk of The Gables is the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, the first national historic site created in the United States. While visiting, tour the Friendship of Salem (1787), a floating replica of an East Indiaman ship located on Derby Wharf. And, explore the expansive stretch of Derby Wharf that leads to Derby Light (1871), one of the only original surviving structures on the wharf. You can also visit the National Park Service’s website for downloadable activities for kids, including a Junior Ranger booklet specific to the site. Complete the activities, get sworn in at the Salem Armory Visitor Center and receive a special badge!
Foreign Soil, Common Ground: Chamber Music at the House of the Seven Gables
The Salem Witch Trials are a well-known series of events that unfolded from February 1692 through May 1693. A total of 19 innocent people were executed in what turned out to be nothing more than mass hysteria. Emotions ran high during this time period, resulting in over 200 people being accused of performing witchcraft. However, John Turner eventually died at sea, and his widowed wife married another sea captain by the name of Charles Redford. Knowing that his fate would most likely be met at sea, Captain Redford ensured in his will that the mansion would go to his new stepchildren. From enslaved people to indentured servants to immigrants fleeing...
The Secret Room in The House
Throughout history, mankind has shown that the worst often comes out when we let our emotions get the better of us. At one time, society found their flawed thinking to be perfectly rational. Often what isn’t understood – or feared – leads some to act out in the worst ways imaginable. In this case, the Salem Witch Trials and the horror surrounding it; people lived in sheer panic stemming from a few allegations. With a long history of hauntings retold over the years, this once peaceful sanctuary became anything but that with its close relation to the execution of 19 innocent people.
Three generations of Turners lived in the home, increasing its size and the family’s wealth, until John Turner III lost everything and the house was sold to another mariner, Samuel Ingersoll, in 1782. Upon Ingersoll’s death, daughter Susanna inherited the great mansion, where she was often visited by her younger cousin, Nathaniel Hawthorne. This family-friendly campground is located on Salem Harbor, just minutes from the historic downtown. The Park offers many opportunities for families to explore the waterfront, from both land and sea.
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After enjoying the mansion for three generations – and after the last of the Turner’s died without any remaining heirs – it was eventually sold to Captain Samuel Ingersoll. This is where author Nathaniel Hawthorne and his novel finally come into play. With the knowledge that children as young as four were being accused and faced potential death, John built a hidden staircase along the fireplace within the Turner mansion.

Packages start at $750 at The House of the Seven Gables for a ceremony and mini-celebration, an on-site event coordinator, and flexible catering options for a light and lively affair. You can take a self-guided tour for $9, and children under 3 are free. Current hours are noon-4 pm, Thursday-Sunday, though those hours are extended during the warmer months.
The earliest section of the House of the Seven Gables was built in 1668 for Captain John Turner, a wealthy sea captain and merchant who was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1644. Facing south towards Salem Harbor, it was originally a two-room, 2+1⁄2-story house with a projecting front porch and a massive central chimney. Four windows of the original ground-floor room (which became a dining room) remain in the house's side wall. An active captain during the Great Age of Sail, Ingersoll died at sea leaving the property to his daughter Susanna, a cousin of famed author Nathaniel Hawthorne.
The area was an enclave for Eastern European immigrants, especially from Poland and Russia. Other communities served by Emmerton’s work included the Irish, Italian, Syrian, and African. After restoring the Turner-Ingersoll mansion, Emmerton continued to focus on saving threatened Salem buildings. She purchased and saved The Hooper-Hathaway House (c. 1682) and moved it to its current location in 1911.
In 1668, merchant and shipowner John Turner I, and his wife Elizabeth Robinson Turner, built a house on Salem Harbor that was destined to become one of America’s most beloved historic homes. Strawbery Banke, much like The Gables, is a waterfront campus of historic properties, placing it in a high-risk area for impacts of sea level... We can look at all of the terrible history leading up to the trials and hopefully gain some perspective by relating to today’s ongoing divisions. And if the House of the Seven Gables now stands to impart some wisdom in our thinking, then perhaps there’s a happy ending here after all. Hawthorne would often visit Captain Ingersoll’s daughter, Susannah, at the mansion. Here he would make notes of its design, eventually inspiring him to write the now-famous novel The House of the Seven Gables.
Visit Historical Museums and Attractions in Salem, MA - Destination Salem
Visit Historical Museums and Attractions in Salem, MA.
Posted: Mon, 30 Aug 2021 16:58:54 GMT [source]
Lyceum Hall, home to several notable speakers, including Alexander Graham Bell’s first demonstration of the telephone, now houses a seafood restaurant. The Joshua Ward House is now a boutique hotel, and the Stephen Phillips House was built using four intact rooms from a different estate. On our way back, we walked on Lynde Street to see the Witch Dungeon Museum. Inside, you can see a live re-enactment of the witch trials and tour the dank prison where they were held for execution. The museum opened in 1979 in a chapel built in 1897 on some old fortifications.
After the book’s publication in 1850, the Hawthorne family would leave Salem once again for Lenox, Mass. It is here that his relationship with Herman Melville would blossom. While living in Lenox, Hawthorne wrote A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys as well as the famed Gothic novel, The House of the Seven Gables. By 1846, the Hawthorne family was living back in Salem with Una (1844) and Julian (1846). It was during this time that he would begin to write The Scarlet Letter—his first critically acclaimed success in publishing. Caroline Osgood Emmerton was born on April 21, 1866 in Salem, Mass.
Spend the day fishing, boating, or relaxing at the public beach. Or, explore the ruins of Historic Fort Pickering and the Winter Island Lighthouse. From The Gables, families can board the Salem Trolley for an 8-mile ride through the City’s historic past.
Hawthorne continued to write into his later years, including a report about his 1862 visit to Washington D.C. In which he met President Lincoln and visited the Civil War Battlefields in Virginia. His final publication was Our Old Home (1863) which was a series of essays about England and Anglo-American relations. In 1864, Hawthorne traveled to New Hampshire with President Franklin Pierce. He died on May 19 and is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, MA.
If you walk on the Heritage Trail Line towards the middle of town, you’ll come to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. Before Salem was known mainly for prosecuting supposed witches, it had always been a bustling seaport. This slice of park honors that history with a jetty out to a short lighthouse and a recreated sailing ship.
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