Salem Maritime National Historical Park

(National Park Service photo, circa 1900)

After the JFK Library, which is south of Boston, I headed to Salem, which is north of Boston. I took the interstate through the Big Dig, the giant tunnel beneath a major part of the city. Salem itself is famous for the witch trails of 1692, a history that the city embraces wholeheartedly as seen by the witch and broomstick silhouette on the police cars and the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School. Within the last 40 years or so, as the economic and manufacturing base went away, commerce came to the city in the form of New Age and Wiccan business, as well as kitchy Halloween-type attractions.

However, I came to Salem to visit the Salem Maritime National Historical Park. Turns out, it was the first NHP ever designated, which is extremely fitting since it was an incredible center of trade in early America. America's first recorded millionaire was in Salem, a man who made his fortune by having his ships go far and wide for trade. There is a fantastic place, the West India Goods store, where you can buy a lot of the items that traded through the port. For good cooks, it's worth a stop to check out their spices. I brought back a few different teas and some coffee to try out. A NPS tour by the waterfront take you to two neighboring, but decidedly different houses. First is the Narbonne house, built in the 1675. The NPS site says that it housed successful businessmen, but it's overwhelmingly bleak to witness. Supposedly, the house was lived in until the 1960s, which is ten times more bleak, as it hadn't seemed to change much in the 300 years.



The other house was magnificent. This was the Derby house, home to a successful merchant Elias Hasket Derby and his (young and, apparently, bored) wife Elizabeth Derby. It's a great example of Georgian architecture. In the photos that I'm going to post after this, take a look at the banister molding, all hand-carved and each one unique.



I don't have many regrets from this trip, but if I had to identify one, it would be that I didn't find the time to get to the Peabody Essex Museum. Originally the Peabody Museum of Salem, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as well as twenty-four historic buildings. It was founded in 1799 as the East India Marine Society by a group of Salem-based captains and supercargoes. Members of the Society were required by the society's charter to collect "natural and artificial curiosities" from beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. Something for next time!