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Private tour in Boston Donald F
Grand Mansions and Sailors' Lodgings: The Architecture of Salem, Massachusetts
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2 hours
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2 hours
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Donald F.
4.8
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24
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27 hrs
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Hello, I'm Donald. In the 16 years I've lived in Salem, I have shown the city to hundreds of people—personal friends, college classes, teacher enrichment programs, Historic Salem, Inc. special events. Although I had known Salem as a Boston native, a summer visitor to the North Shore, and a historian of colonial America, I turned familiarity to intimacy by walking every street in the city of Salem to observe its historic waterfront, its urban development, most interesting buildings from the 17th century to the 21st, and the special character that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. I will be happy to show you the Salem that I now know well. Let me tell you a bit about myself—born in Boston (19 miles from Salem), educated at the Boston Latin School (founded in 1635), Brown University (A. B. ) and University of Pennsylvania (Ph. D. ), college teacher, museum director, lecturer, tour planner and guide for several institutions, and longtime President of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Honorary Trustee of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, appointed member of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and Director Emeritus of Historic Deerfield, a museum of New England history and life. A.B., American Civilization, Brown University Ph.D., American Civilization, University of Pennsylvania Appointed member, Massachusetts Historical Commission Fellow, Massachusetts Historical Society Elected member, American Antiquarian Society past President, Colonial Society of Massachusetts Licensed guide, City of Salem I find that walking tours are the most effective way to see a city or town.
Have a question or want to customize this tour? Message Donald F.
An exclusive private tour to discover Salem
Overview of your Boston tour
Join me for a private walking tour of Salem's really interesting architecture to see where and how residents of this prospering port lived and worked, worshiped and frolicked, governed and litigated from the 1600s to the 1900s. Inshore fishing and coastal trade enabled the settlement to develop rapidly along the waterfront, where many widows kept boarding houses and a few highly successful ship owners occupied substantial manor houses like the House of the Seven Gables. In time these grandees moved "uptown" and competed with one another to build the most impressive mansion on Salem Common or Chestnut Street, "the most beautiful street in America. " Handsome public buildings confirmed the taste and community pride of Salem's citizens. See Salem with an expert! Donald is not only a Boston native and resident of Salem's McIntire District since 2005, but an architectural historian specializing in early America, who was Director of the Historic Deerfield museum for 28 years.
Your Boston tour itinerary
As we walk about Salem, we will see many buildings of great distinction. The House of the Seven Gables (1668). Penn Townsend House (1771). Elias Haskett Derby and Elizabeth Crowninshield Derby House (1761-1762). U. S. Custom House (1819). Benjamin W. Crowninshield House (1810-1812). Richard Derby House (c1735). Washington Square (improved and renamed 1802). Andrew-Safford House (1818-1819) Derby Summer House (c1800). Peirce-Nichols House (1782, 1801). Samuel McIntire, architect. Back Street or Federal Street (c1760). Mason-Roberts House (1768, moved here 1818). Page-Farrington House (c1786). Cook-Oliver House and fence (1802, 1808). Samuel McIntire, architect. Great Street or Essex Street. Chestnut Street (1796, widened 1804). Allen-Osgood-Huntington Triple House (1828). West-Phillips House (moved here 1824). Hamilton Hall (1805). Samuel McIntire, architect and carver. Joshua Ward House (1784-1788), where Washington slept in 1789. We will not enter any buildings, most of which are not open to the public.
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Transport details
Type: Walking
Walking tour.
What's included
What's not included
Meeting location
54 Turner Street, Salem, MA, USA
Airport: ,Cruise: ,ByGuide: The House of the Seven Gables, 54 Turner Street. Salem, MA or Salem Ferry dock, 10 Blaney Street, Salem MA
- You can request a different meeting location (for example, your hotel) during the checkout process.
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2 hours
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