1820 Salem Massachusetts map bySaunders BPL 12094

The Charter Street Historic District encompasses a small remnant of the oldest part of

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 ...

that has since been surrounded by more modern development. It includes three properties on Charter Street: the Pickman House, the Grimshawe House, and the Charter Street Cemetery, or Central Burying Point. The district 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 ...

in 1975.

Pickman House

The Pickman House is located on Charter Street behind the

Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and th ...

, the oldest continually operated museum in America. The house, built in 1664 and is located on Charter Street. The house was restored by Historic Salem Historic Salem
/ref> in 1969 and purchased by the museum in 1983. It stands just east of the cemetery entrance on the south side of Charter Street.

Grimshawe House

The Grimshawe House is a Federal style three story wood-frame house that was built c. 1770, which stands just west of the cemetery entrance. It is most significant for its association with writer

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

, who courted his future wife Sophia Peabody in the house, which was owned by her father. The house and the adjacent cemetery feature in a number of Hawthorne's works, most notably the unfinished ''Doctor Grimshawe's Secret: A romance''.

Charter Street Cemetery

The cemetery is a roughly rectangular plot of land that has been used as a burying ground since at least 1637. It includes several notable burials: * Richard More, the only passenger of the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

'' with a documented gravesite *

Simon Bradstreet Simon Bradstreet (baptized March 18, 1603/4In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on March 25. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in use in other parts of Europe, dates between January and Ma ...

, one of the founders and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony *

John Hathorne John Hathorne (August 1641 – May 10, 1717) was a merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem, Massachusetts. He is best known for his early and vocal role as one of the leading judges in the Salem witch trials. Hatho ...

, ancestor of

and a magistrate involved in 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 ...

References

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Historic districts in Essex County, Massachusetts Salem, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Pickman House

Grimshawe House

Charter Street Cemetery

See also

References

External links