Historic doorways of Old SalemNorthend, Mary Harrod
History
Historic doorways of Old Salem
Northend, Mary Harrod
Architecture -- Massachusetts -- Salem; Architecture, Colonial; Doorways; Salem (Mass.) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
As late as 1806, in spite of the general exodus from Derby Street to
Chestnut, a few new houses were being built in the old territory.
One of these was put up by Captain Joseph Waters, on the corner of
Derby and Turner Streets, and possesses some unusual and attractive
architectural features. The window lintels are of white marble with
keystones, and this produces a striking effect. The main entrance is
on the side, and the portico is two stories in height, supported by
huge Corinthian columns. Both the main entrance and the smaller one
on Turner Street have a note of something a trifle different from the
prevailing Salem idea.
Through the generosity of Captain John Bertram, this commodious house
was in 1877 donated as a Home for Aged Men.
THE BENJAMIN PICKMAN HOUSE
Somewhat resembling that famous mansion ‘The Lindens,’ at Danvers,
described elsewhere, is the Benjamin Pickman house at 165 Essex Street,
built in 1743. It has the same two-story pilasters supporting a gable
in the gambrel roof, the same rusticated boarding and groined corners.
The dormer windows have alternately arched and pointed gables.
The doorway is unusually ornate, with rusticated jambs, and a broken
arch pediment in which stands a sculptural bust. This doorway is of the
enclosed variety and was added by McIntire in 1800.
The Pickman house was formerly adorned with much beautiful interior
carved woodwork, little of which remains. The owner, out of compliment
to the industry by which he prospered, caused a carved and gilded
codfish to be mounted on each of the stairways, but these, too, are
missing. The erection of other buildings in front of the Pickman house
hides its real character. Still it repays careful study.
THE ELIAS HASKET DERBY HOUSE
Among all the residences of Old Salem, that which was most ambitious
and pretentious no longer exists, save in picture and memory. This was
the famous mansion built by McIntire in 1798 for Elias Hasket Derby,
Salem’s greatest merchant, at a cost of $80,000. Derby lived only a
few months after taking possession, and the upkeep of so expensive an
establishment deterring prospective purchasers, this splendid house was
dismantled and finally razed in 1815--the land being donated to the
town for a public market. Derby Square, where the present Market House
now stands, was the location of the famous house.
McIntire was in 1804 erecting a house at 142 Federal Street for Captain
Cook. Business reverses greatly delayed its completion, and McIntire
continued it at his leisure, taking advantage of the dismantling of the
Derby mansion to utilize much of its beautifully carved woodwork in the
interior. The result was the Cook-Oliver house, as it is now known--one
of the most satisfying to the artistic sense of any in all Salem.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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