Historic doorways of Old Salem

by Mary Harrod Northend

CHAPTER III

THE EVOLUTION OF THE SALEM DOORWAY

The Salem doorway, like all institutions, architectural or otherwise, was the fruit of a gradual process of evolution or development from simple forms to those more elaborate and complete, and kept pace more or less evenly in this process with the changing character of the buildings of which it formed a part. Almost two hundred years elapsed between the hasty erection of the first log cabins at Naumkeag in 1626 to the culmination of the Colonial vogue in 1818. Yet, two hundred years is a very brief time in which to complete a process of evolution such as this—comparing the rude aperture closed by its swinging shield of slabs, which formed the doorway of the earliest Salem dwelling, with the ornate, dignified, and beautiful entrance to a typical Salem home at the expiration of the period, with classic columns, fluted pilasters, carved rosettes and festoons, spreading fanlight with its spider-web tracery of leading, and paneled door set off by latch and knocker of shining brass. The truth is that this was a process of assisted evolution; for skilled English craftsmen, workers in wood and in iron were among the earliest settlers at Salem; they were familiar with the architectural forms and designs of the homeland; and working in the tractable material of white pine, they reproduced with increased effect the patterns which in the old country were necessarily wrought in stone.

The business of ship-building, rapidly increasing in the port, gave occupation to large numbers of carvers in wood, who produced ornate decorations in the captains’ cabins, and the famous figureheads which graced the bows of the old-time clippers. At off-seasons, these craftsmen found occupation in the builders’ trade; and thus in many ways the evolution of the ornamental doorway and porch was hastened.

It is possible to roughly divide the architecture of Old Salem into four or perhaps five general periods, which are determined by the type of dwelling most frequently erected during the time. As a matter of fact, these periods blend or overlap so that there is no sharp and distinct demarcation between them; it is sufficient to say that the doorways of Old Salem took form and character in keeping with the changing type of dwelling, simple with the simplicity of the structure, becoming more elaborate as the house became more ambitious and pretentious, and reaching their climax in ornateness with the three-story square mansions of brick which characterized the closing years of the Colonial period.

The earliest houses at Salem were, of course, mere cabins of logs, roughly and hastily built, utility being the only consideration. They were for shelter from the weather, and for protection against enemies, whether beasts or men. The doorway, therefore, was a mere opening in the log wall, which could be barred at a moment’s notice, converting the little hut into a sturdy fortress. In the first rude architecture of the colonists no thought was given—for in the exigencies of the situation none could be given—to style and attractiveness, utility being, through stern necessity, the prime factor in the construction of their simple homes.

A love of beauty, however, was by no means wanting; and this soon became evident in the beginning of decoration, simple enough, it is true, as was natural, but showing a desire to make the doorway, always architecturally speaking the keynote of the dwelling’s exterior, as attractive as possible.

The first period of Salem’s architectural development, passing over the very earliest years as of little or no value, was characterized by the construction of gabled houses of various kinds, from the simple story and a half cottage to more complex and rambling structures, of which the famous ‘House of the Seven Gables’ is a conspicuous example. Others are the Deliverance Parkman house and the Governor Bradstreet mansion (1638) pictures of which may be seen in the Essex Institute at Salem; the beginnings of the ornamental doorway are to be found in both these instances, recessed somewhat to afford protection from the weather, and possessing an arched lintel of the characteristic Elizabethan type. The door of the Bradstreet mansion is ornamented by a lozenge pattern, corresponding with the diamond panes of the casement windows, the intersections of the pattern being marked by large-headed nails. The trim of the early doorways was simple in the extreme, the architrave and pediment tentatively emerging as though feeling their way. Some of the oldest houses of the second, or lean-to period, possess enclosed porches with gable roofs and small sashes in the sides for lighting the dark entry.

But with the advent of the gambrel-roofed house, an adaptation of the French Mansard, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, Salem doorways become at once important in architectural value. Pilaster and architrave, pediment and column, come boldly to the front and assume their rightful place. Top-light and side-light come into general use. With the appearance of the square wooden house of three stories, soon after the Revolution, these historic doorways and porches may be said to reach almost their full development, the genius of Samuel McIntire carrying this on to its peak, the full fruition of his work being seen in the entrances to the red-brick mansions of the beginning of the nineteenth century, against whose mellow background the pure white classic forms of porch and doorway stand out in striking and delightful contrast. After 1818, the Colonial style began to suffer its decline.