The Joshua Ward House is a historic house in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

. The three-story

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

brick house, built in 1784, is one of the first brick houses in Salem. Its interior woodwork was done by noted Salem builder and woodworker

Samuel McIntire Samuel McIntire (January 16, 1757 – February 6, 1811) was an American architect and craftsman, best known for his work in the Chestnut Street District, a classic example of Federal style architecture. Life and career Born in Salem, Massachus ...

, including an original staircase that is the oldest surviving staircase created by him.

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

is reported to have specifically requested staying in this house when he visited Salem in 1789. The building has an austere brick exterior laid in

Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks ...

. Its four chimneys were damaged by storms in its early years, and again in the

1938 New England Hurricane The 1938 New England Hurricane (also referred to as the Great New England Hurricane and the Long Island Express Hurricane) was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The stor ...

. The house was used in the 19th century as a tavern. It was built on the same site as the former home of Sheriff

George Corwin George Corwin (February 26, 1666 – April 12, 1696) was the High Sheriff of Essex County, Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials, for which he signed warrants for the arrest and execution of those condemned of witchcraft. Family George Corwin ...

, famously associated with the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1978, and included in the

Downtown Salem District Downtown Salem District is a historic district roughly bounded by Church, Central, New Derby, and Washington Streets in Salem, Massachusetts. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and represents a major expansion of ...

in 1983. In 2015 it was turned into a hotel.

References

Houses completed in 1784 Houses in Salem, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Massachusetts Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, Massachusetts Federal architecture in Massachusetts {{EssexCountyMA-NRHP-stub

See also

References