Category: Town

Salem Five Cents Savings Bank (1892)

by Dan//Banks, Colonial Revival, Salem

The Salem Five Cents Savings Bank, known as the “Nickel Bank,” because deposits started at 5 cents, was founded in 1855. The bank’s building at 210 Essex Street in Salem, designed by an unknown architect, was built in 1892, with later modifications. The bank is now known as Salem Five. The bank building was constructed to complement the Ezekiel Hersey Derby House, which once stood next door. That c. 1800 house, later known as the Maynes Block, was planned by Charles Bulfinch with interior work by Samuel McIntire. The house was removed in the early 1970s and replaced by the bank’s modern wing, designed by Oscar Padjen. Architectural elements from the house’s interior are now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Thompson/West Double House (1845)

by Dan//Federal, Greek Revival, Houses, Salem

The double house at at 38-40 Chestnut Street in Salem was built in about 1845 and architecturally represents the transition from the Federal to the Greek Revival style. The original resident of the west half of the house (until 1859) was Rev. James W. Thompson, while the other half was the residence of Captain Nathaniel West, Sr. As described in History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, Now Called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. 1637-1888, Vol. III.-1822-1865 (1898), by Olver Ayer Roberts:

Rev. James W. Thompson, D. D., of Salem, delivered the Artillery Election sermon of 1833. He was a son of Rev. James Thompson, D. D., of Barre, Mass., and was born in that town Dec. 13, 1805. He graduated at Brown University in 1827, and at the Theological School of Harvard University in 1831. Prior to his graduation he was ordained to the Christian ministry. He settled first in Natick. An invitation to settle over the Independent Congregation Society, in Barton Square, Salem, was accepted by him, and he was installed March 7, 1832. He remained in this ministry twenty-seven years, and resigned March 7, 1859. He left Salem, and accepted an invitation to the Third or Jamaica Plain Parish Church, in 1859, where he continued as sole or senior pastor until his decease, which occurred Sept. 24, 1881. The funeral services were held in the Unitarian Church at Jamaica Plain, and his remains were buried in Salem.

The eastern half of the double house was later home to Joseph B. Andrews, mayor of Salem in 1854-1856. As described in Historical Sketch of Salem, 1626-1879 (1879), by Charles S. Osgood and H.M. Batchelder:

Joseph Andrews served as mayor in 1854-55. He was born in Salem Dec. 10, 1808, and died in Boston Feb. 8, 1869. He was captain of the Salem Light Infantry and brigadier-general of tho State militia, which position he held in 1861, at the opening of the Rebellion. He commanded at Fort Warren, in Boston harbor, and had charge of the State troops sent to that station prior to their departure for the seat of war, and until it ceased to be used for that purpose. He was a bank official.

Captain John B. Silsbee owned the western half of the house in the late 1850’s and 1860’s. The bay window above the left entrance is an early twentieth-century addition.

White-Silsbee/Hodges-Mott House (1811)

by Dan//Federal, Houses, Salem

A double house with an unusual layout, the White-Silsbee/Hodges-Mott House is at 33-35 Washington Square North in Salem, between Oliver and Winter Streets. The section on the west, or left, side was built first, c.1811, by Joshua Upham for Joseph White, Jr., whose brother Stephen lived next door. The house was sold by Joseph’s widow, Eliza, to the Silsbee family, whom owned it until 1880. The attached house on the east, or right, side was built c. 1840 for the Misses Hannah and Betsy Hodges and was purchased by John N. Mott in 1871. Both halves of the house were later owned by the Clark family in the twentieth century.

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Marblehead (1714)

by Dan//Churches, Colonial, Marblehead

Located at 26 Pleasant Street in Marblehead, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church is the oldest Episcopal church building on its original site in New England. Founded by a group of donors consisting primarily of sea captains, the church was built in 1714, with many of its original materials being shipped from Great Britain. The original square church was expanded by one third in 1728 with a new roof. During the Revolutionary War in 1776, patriots raided the church and removed the British royal coat of arms. Many of St. Michael’s members at the time were Loyalists who fled to Canada. As related in Historic churches of America (1907), by Nellie Urner Wallington:

In the course of time, as one by one the families of the communicants died or removed to distant localities, the parish was so depleted that in 1818 funds were no longer forthcoming for the support of the church. The church building was closed, and the glebe sold to pay off the debt of the parish. In 1833, however, vigorous attempts on the part of the Congregationalists to secure possession of the church edifice roused the whole Episcopal church of the United States, until parish after parish contributed aid and old St. Michael’s was once more set upon its feet.

The church‘s current stained glass windows were installed in 1888.

John T. Hilton House (1826)

by Dan//Boston, Federal, Houses

The house at 73 Joy Street in Beacon Hill in Boston was built in 1825-1826 for black hairdresser and musician John B. Holmes. The house is named for John Telemachus Hilton (1801-1864) (pdf), also a hairdresser, who was a Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge, a founder of the Massachusetts General Colored Association, a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee and on the Board of Managers of the Anti-Slavery Society. Hilton only briefly lived in the house, which is also associated with the brothers, Anthony F. Clark (who lived there) and Jonas W. Clark (who used it as a rental property). The house is also one of several boardinghouses owned by John R. Taylor, who is known to have assisted fugitive slaves. [For more info, see this Document]

Merchants’ Row, Amherst (1880)

by Dan//Amherst, Commercial, Renaissance Revival

On July 4, 1879, a line of buildings on South Pleasant Street comprising Merchants’s Row in downtown Amherst were all destroyed in a fire. According to The History of Amherst (1896), compiled by Carpenter & Morehouse,

The fire started in a shed in the rear of George Cutler’s store. It communicated quickly to the barns of Stebbins’ livery stable, and thence to the Amherst house. These buildings were all burned, together with the Savings bank block, Charles Adams’ block and the stores of O. G. Couch, J. H. Starbuck, Edwin Nelson, George Cutler and B. F. Kendrick. The origin of the fire was unknown. The loss was between $50,000 and $90,000, largely covered by insurance.

The new Merchants’ Row, completed in 1880, was built on part of the site of the lost buildings.