Historic doorways of Old Salem

by Mary Harrod Northend

These doorways were the work of ship carpenters or men who carved figureheads, although the most beautiful of all were those designed by Samuel McIntire, the wood-carver of Salem. Many of them display a marked individuality, the result of McIntire’s skill in combining various types of architecture, and adapting them to the Georgian style. Some show pilasters with Doric or Corinthian feeling, supporting a pediment often triangular in design, gaining in effect through the use of hand-tooled ornamentation.

Nathaniel Hawthorne graphically describes a simple example on the house on Charter Street, where he wooed Sophia Peabody, who later became his bride.

Another notable one adorns the Pickering house, built by John Pickering in 1650. This was the birthplace of Colonel Timothy Pickering, who served in four Cabinet offices.

The Cook-Oliver house on Federal Street shows rare bits of hand-tooling, in part taken from the Elias Hasket Derby mansion on Market Square, considered the finest house of its day.

Salem has just reason to be proud of these doorways which have given to her a distinctive name in the field of architecture. Little wonder that architects from all over the country are copying these historic doorways for reproduction in modern-day homes, with a realization that they have never been excelled by modern-day work.

Acknowledgment should be rendered to Edward Colton Fellowes, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for assistance in arranging the material of this book.

CONTENTS

I.	Character in Doorways	[1]
II.	Old Salem as a Center of Colonial Doorways	[3]
III.	The Evolution of the Salem Doorway	[5]
IV.	The Door Itself	[10]
V.	Old Salem Houses and Their Doorways	[15]
	The Rebecca Nurse House	[15]
	The John Ward House	[17]
	The Tucker-Rice House	[19]
	The Ropes Memorial	[20]
	The Lindall-Barnard-Andrews House	[22]
	The Cabot-Endicott-Low House	[24]
	The Pickering House	[25]
	The Poynton House	[26]
	The Eden-Brown House	[28]
	‘The Lindens’	[29]
	The Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House	[31]
	The Hosmer-Townsend-Waters House	[33]
	Assembly Hall	[34]
	The Boardman House	[36]
	‘Oak Hill’	[36]
	The Kimball House	[38]
	The Cook-Oliver House	[38]
	The George M. Whipple House	[40]
	The Nathan Robinson-Little House	[42]
	The Dodge-Shreve House	[43]
	The White-Lord House	[44]
	The Salem Club	[45]
	The Baldwin-Lyman House	[47]
	The Andrew-Safford House	[48]
	The Gardner-White-Pingree House	[50]
	The House of the Seven Gables	[51]
	The J. Foster Smith House	[52]
	The Grace Machado House	[53]
	The Stearns House	[53]
	The Timothy Orne House	[55]
	The Crowninshield-Devereux-Waters House	[56]
	The Mansfield-Bolles House	[58]
	The Richard Derby House	[59]
	The Hodges-Peele-West House	[60]
	The Silsbee-Mott House	[61]
	The Hodges-Webb-Meek House	[61]
	The Pickman-Shreve-Little House	[62]
	The Home for Aged Women	[64]
	The Home for Aged Men	[66]
	The Benjamin Pickman House	[67]
	The Elias Hasket Derby House	[68]
	The Neal-Kittridge-Rogers House	[70]
	The Arthur West House	[72]
	The Hoffman-Simpson House	[73]
	The Doyle Mansion	[74]
	Derby Street and Chestnut Street	[75]
	Famous Names in Salem	[81]
	Palladian Windows	[83]
VI.	Old Salem Knockers	[88]

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Dodge-Shreve House	[Frontispiece]
The House of the Seven Gables: Batten Door	[10]
The House of the Seven Gables: Another Doorway	[11]
The Rebecca Nurse House	[16]
The John Ward House	[17]
The Tucker-Rice House	[20]
The Ropes Memorial	[21]
Closer View of the Ropes Doorway	[22]
The Lindall-Barnard-Andrews House	[23]
The Cabot-Endicott-Low House	[24]
Porch Opening on Old-Fashioned Gardens on the Pickering Estate	[25]
The Poynton House, Known as the ‘Pineapple House’	[26]
The Eden-Brown House	[27]
‘The Lindens’	[30]
The Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House	[31]
The Front Door of the Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House from the Inside	[32]
Assembly Hall	[33]
The Boardman House	[36]
‘Oak Hill’	[37]
The Kimball House	[38]
The Cook-Oliver House	[39]
The George M. Whipple House	[40]
The Nathan Robinson-Little House	[41]
The White-Lord House	[44]
The Salem Club	[45]
The Baldwin-Lyman House	[48]
The Andrew-Safford House	[49]
The Gardner-White-Pingree House	[50]
The J. Foster Smith House	[51]
The Grace Machado House	[54]
The Stearns House	[55]
The Mansfield-Bolles House	[58]
The Richard Derby House	[59]
The Silsbee-Mott House	[60]
The Hodges-Webb-Meek House	[61]
The Home for Aged Women	[66]
The Home for Aged Men	[67]
The Neal-Kittridge-Rogers House	[72]
The Arthur West House	[73]
The Hoffmann-Simpson House	[74]
The Doyle Mansion	[75]
House of Mrs. Emery Johnson	[78]
House of Mrs. George Wheatland	[79]
The Custom-House	[82]
Old Salem Knockers	[92]
Old Salem Knockers	[93]