Salem, Massachusetts

Around 6 p.m. yesterday, the wind started to die down and the chop abated, so we dinghied in to the dock at Derby Wharf, one 4 surviving wharfs in Salem, which numbered over 50 during the height of the city's international trade. Richard Derby and his son Elias Hasket Derby began constructing the wharf in 1762. As the Derby's trade and wealth grew, they and their heirs extended the wharf until it reached its current half-mile length in 1806. The Derby Wharf was built by laying timbers on the mud flats at low tide (The normal tidal range is 8 feet.) and then filling between the wood with dirt and stone. It was later encased in blocks of local granite. When it was being actively used for trade, several warehouses and ship related industries formed a line down the center of the wharf. Now it is bare earth and grass with the exception of one wooden structure, which was moved here from Marblehead after the area became the first National Historic Site within the National Park System in 1938.

Salem, which was founded in 1626 by English colonists, is infamous for the witch trials held here in 1692 and 1693. Over 200 individuals (78% women), including a 4-year-old girl, were accused of practicing witchcraft--the Devil's magic--as the area became caught up in paranoia, mass hysteria and misdirected religious fervor. "Spectral evidence" was allowed in the trials until October 29, 1692, when Governor William Phips abolished the Special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to decide) he had established, prohibited further arrests and released many prisoners. From June to September 1692, however, 25 people died as a result of the witch hunt; 19 (14 women and 5 men) were hanged, five died in jail, and one (a 81-year-old man) was pressed to death in an attempt to get him to plea either guilty or not guilty. 

Given the gruesomeness and injustice of this history, it seems strange that Salem promotes itself as "The Witch City" and uses a silhouette of a witch on a broomstick for its police, firefighter and harbormaster logo on badges and vehicles. There are at least 20 different companies offering walking tours centered around witches, and many bars, restaurants and shops use the word "witch" or make reference to witchcraft in their names and logos. Of course, Salem could direct more attention to its maritime history, but there is darkness in that part of the past also. The initial wealth of the city relied in the merchants participation in the Atlantic slave economy. Early Salem was very successful in fishing and shipped its dried and salted cod to other North American colonial cities and England. The cod that did not meet human consumption standards was shipped to slave plantations in the Caribbean, where the masters used it as food for the enslaved people. On trips from the Caribbean, Salem ships transported sugar, indigo, rice and cotton--all planted, grown and harvested by Blacks--to British ports around the Atlantic Ocean. Records also show that most wealthy households in Salem had at least one slave. (Of course, then there is the issue of taking the land from the Native Americans.)

While being cognizant of these tragedies of the past, Peter and I still enjoyed walking around the historic areas of Salem. First, we ambled in the McIntire Historic District (named for Samuel McIntire, who lived there and was commissioned to build other homes), an area where those who had enough wealth chose to build fine homes away from the bustle and dirt of the waterfront. There are both wooden and brick structures, using Georgian and Federal styles of architecture, mostly constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries; however, the oldest, the Pickering House, dates back to 1664. Of course, many have lovely plantings in front and a few have spectacular carving on the architectural details. The historically significant homes in the neighborhood bear plaques indicating by whom they were built and/or who occupied them. Usually, the occupation of the owner--such as grocer, shoe merchant, blacksmith, ship's captain--is indicated. Of particular note was one plaque indicating the owner was a "singlewoman."

Home on Chestnut Street

Hamilton Hall

Historic Plaque indicating Nathaniel Hawthorne lived here

Home on Chestnut Street

Short-term residence of Nathaniel Hawthorne

Home on Chesnut Street

Home on Chesnut Street

Home on Chesnut Street

Home on Essex Street with elaborate decorations

Homes on Essex Street

Home of a Singlewoman

Home of Nancy Courtis

One of the houses in the area is the Ropes Mansion. Since it was evening, it was closed, but the lovely garden in the rear of the house is open from dawn to dusk, so we enjoyed a stroll among the plantings.

Ropes Mansion Garden

Ropes Mansion Garden

Ropes Mansion Garden

After that, we walked to Charter Street to see the cemetery that was established there in 1637, and beside it the Salem Witch Trials Memorial, where each person who was hanged or pressed is commorated with a stone protruding from the wall of the site. Of course, none of those victims is interred in the cemetery since they were not worthy of a Christian burial; in fact, there appears to be no consensus on what happened to their bodies.

Salem Witch Trials Memorial

Charter Street Cemetery

The cemetery and memorial are next to the Peabody-Essex Museum. Along one side there is a lawn and pathway canopied by leafy trees. As a temporary art installation, the trunks of the trees are painted a vivid blue. The artist, Konstantin Dimopoulos, wants to draw attention to deforestation and climate change  and the role of trees in the world. It is quite striking.

Blue Trees at the Peabody Essex Museum

Next we walked along the pedestrian part of Essex Street, passed the newer Customs House and Town Hall. After a wonderful dinner al fresco at Rockafella's, we dinghied back to Mantra across shiny blue-black water resembling rippled glass. 

Salem Town Hall and Customs House

We spent a few hours this afternoon visiting Salem again. This time, we focused on the Salem Maritime National Historic Park, which includes Derby Wharf, the Derby House, Narbonne House (the oldest surviving wood home in Salem, built in 1675), Hawkes House (owned by another successful merchant, Benjamin Hawkes, and the imposing 1819 brick Customs House. We then walked by the House of the Seven Gables, made famous by the novel with that title by native Nathaniel Hawthorne (who wrote The Scarlet Letter while he worked at the Customs House), stopped by the Witch Memorial again, and stopped to see the Hawthorne statue after walking past Salem Common. We stopped for a nutritious and delicious lunch at Lulu's Bakery and Pantry and then walked along Derby Street to reach an Ace Hardware store, where Peter was successful in finding many of the items on his shopping list, and the Point Urban Art Museum, where I strolled the streets admiring the Caribbean influenced murals scattered over a three block mostly residential area. The vibrantly colored artworks covered side walls of brick buildings, the fronts and sides of houses and even the alley walls of apartment buildings. 

The wind had picked up by the time we returned to the dinghy but the chop was still minor so we avoided getting wet. We will remain here at anchor for another night as the wind is supposed to gust to 25 knots tonight.

View from our boat near sunset