Walking in Witch City

From Dave Brigham:

In most towns, if you walk around looking for signs of Halloween nearly seven weeks ahead of time, you may find a half-aisle of candy at the super Stop & Shop or an inflatable Frankenstein on the weird lady's lawn. Take an excursion through Salem, Mass., in mid-September, however, and you bump into scores of costume-clad folks happily filling the streets on their way to the Salem Witch Museum, the Witch History Museum, the Witch Dungeon Museum or the Witch House. That is, if you can successfully weave around the countless adults happily shopping for magic wands, black fishnet stockings and Jason Voorhees masks and taking selfies with street characters like the Predator, Michael Myers and Morticia Addams.

If you're me, you get a few chuckles at all the spooky hubbub and then move out of the stream of gore-loving humanity and into the gritty, lesser-known corners.

At 10 Boston Street in the Gallows Hill neighborhood (aka Blubber Hollow, which is an awesome nickname) is a rather unassuming brick building currently housing a dentist's office and other small businesses. Below is a crappy shot of the building, which was the best I could do given that big tree in front.

In one of the rare instances where MACRIS let me down, all the database has to say about this Colonial Revival building is that it was built circa-1920 and that the "facade features cast-stone details, including a second-story sillcourse, keystones and corner blocks." But what then, oh superhumans of MACRIS, am I to make of this detail?

For starters, this pinpoints the date of construction at 1916, something the MACRIS author should have seen. Secondarily, the cross on that chunk of concrete raises the question of whether this was originally a church or rectory or some other house of worship-adjacent structure, as opposed to "one of several commercial buildings of the early 20th century constructed at the intersection of Boston and Essex Street," as MACRIS tells us in incorrect grammar just before we nod off.

It doesn't look like a church, so I'm going with parsonage or church office building. I've looked online for maps that might be helpful, but haven't found anything more about this building. If anybody knows, let me know.

I passed through Salem on my way to a barbecue in neighboring Beverly, so I did a bit of research before my trip. I singled out a diner two doors down from the mystery building above as a must-see destination.

Built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company as #725, this diner was installed at the end of 1936 and known as the Pilgrim Diner, according to MACRIS. "The diner was built for Louis Proulx and George G. Craigie," and replaced a similar business established on the site in 1929. Proulx operated the diner into the mid-1950s. In the ensuing decades, different folks ran the joint under a variety of names, including George's Diner, Boyle's Diner (aka Boyle's Elm Tree Diner) and Deb's Diner."

"The Pilgrim Diner is one of the better preserved examples in Massachusetts of the 1930s, barrel-roof lunch car built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company," MACRIS continues. "The...car rests on a foundation of rusticated concrete blocks. The exterior is sheathed in flat porcelain enamel panels with the name of the diner baked in."

Sigh...the porcelain enamel panels.

Before being partially obscured by the current Black Cat Diner banner sign, those original panels were sort of covered by one for Deb's Diner for more than 10 years. I understand that each new owner wants to put his or her own stamp on the business, and that, as one of my Instagram followers pointed out, perhaps owners want to distance themselves from the baggage behind the concept of "Pilgrim," but these temporary signs just cheapen the image. Maybe new signs could go on the roof, or painted into the sidewalk?

Steps away, on the east side of Essex Street, is a business that has had the same name for decades.

ASAP Drains, which covers the entire North Shore, has been unclogging things since 1979.

I started heading towards downtown, north-northeast along Essex Street. There are many beautiful old homes along here, the sort that one thinks of when imagining an old Colonial town, which Salem is, having been settled by Europeans in 1626. The one that caught my eye, because of the plaque on the front, was the Lindall-Barnard-Andrews House.

"HERE LIVED REV. THOMAS BARNARD," the sign says. "First Pastor of North Church Peace Maker at North Bridge Affair Feb. 25, 1775."

My initial assumption was that the North Bridge in question was the well-known one in Concord, Mass. That bridge was the site of "the shot heard 'round the world" that started the American Revolution. But alas, my Greater Boston bias is showing, because this is not the bridge in question. I mean, why would someone travel 28 miles by horse to be a peace maker?

Rather, Rev. Barnard was involved in an incident at a bridge about a half-mile walk from his home. On February 26, 1775 (a day later than the marker on the home indicates), Barnard and others intervened in an incident in which the British military sought to capture cannons on the north side of the North River from some Salem Minutemen.

Military Governor Thomas Gage dispatched "Lieut. Col. Alexander Leslie with the 64th regiment by ship to Marblehead with instructions to march to Salem with 240 troops and seize the cannons and munitions of war," according to this Historic Ipswich article. The Minutemen and residents of Salem were waiting for them, and had raised the drawbridge, preventing Leslie and his men from crossing the river.

There was a brief scuffle between the British and the Colonists, which may have "brought about what may have been the first bloodshed in a war that was yet to begin," per the article. "Capt. [John] Felt, Rev. Barnard, and Col. [David] Mason negotiated with Col. Leslie, who was at length persuaded to offer a compromise, pledging his word and honor that if the inhabitants would allow him to cross, he and his troops would in a peaceable manner proceed no more than fifty rods beyond the bridge and then return without molesting any person or property."

So the British proceeded, simply so Leslie could report to Gage that he crossed the bridge and couldn't find the weapons, which the Minutemen had told him they'd hidden. They weren't about to let him look for them.

Pretty funny.

As for the other two names on the historic record for this home, Judge James Lindall had the place built in 1740. "The house was purchased in 1816 by John H . Andrews, and remained in the Andrews family throughout the nineteenth century," according to MACRIS.

At the intersection of Essex and North streets, I looked to my left and saw lots of folks milling about outside the Witch House, "the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin...and...one of the few structures you can visit in Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692," per the web site. I was more intrigued by what I saw across the street.

Man, what a mish-mash of holiday decorations! Happy Hallow-Easter-Mas!

Witch City Consignment closed in mid-December after nearly two decades in business. The store, which on the day of my visit had a line out the door, looks like it was pretty great. As for the building, it dates to 1897 and is known historically as the David Pingree Building, per MACRIS.

Pingree was one of Salem's wealthiest people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, per MACRIS. In the early years, this storefront was occupied by a bakery and a grocery store. After that, tenants included New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, Kingley Insurance Agency and Jerry’s men’s furnishings company. The store to this day still has signs indicating Jerry's Department Store and Jerry's Army & Navy Store. I'm not sure whether the consignment store was owned by the same folks who ran Jerry's.

I continued east along Essex Street, weaving in and out of the Halloween revelers, before heading south on Crombie Street. I saw some cool seasonal decorations and a sweet old muscle car before stumbling across the next site of interest on the corner of Margin and Gedney streets.

Steve's Quality Market has been in business for more than 80 years. Look at that sign!

A little further south, along Canal Street I spied another nice sign atop Sammy's Roast Beef.

The sandwich place has been in business for more than 20 years.

From there I wandered around until I ended up on Lafayette Street. As I walked south, I looked down Peabody Street and did my usual, "Whoa! Look at that!"

Beemans Gum was introduced to market in the late 19th century. "The product became a part of the American Chicle Company in 1898, and continued on after the purchase of American Chicle by Warner-Lambert in 1962," according to Wikipedia. "Production ceased in 1978 due to lagging sales. In 1985 the brand was revived in a nostalgia campaign, as an ordinary chewing gum without the medical claims, marketed along with Clove and Black Jack chewing gums."

Simultaneous to my noticing the ghost sign, I spied the Salvador Dali mural painted on a building just below it.

(I love how a door opens at the bottom of this painting - perhaps into the artist's soul? It was painted by an artist named Sipros.)

I continued east on Peabody Street for a short while, making photos of other murals.

(Painted by Don Rimx.)

(Painted by Ruben Ubiera.)

I was amazed at the size and quality of these works of art. Having done no research ahead of my visit beyond the Black Cat Diner, I had no idea that as I walked along Peabody Street I was seeing just the tip of the iceberg that is the Punto Urban Art Museum. There are dozens more -- 75 in all -- located in a three-block radius in this neighborhood!

The open-air museum has two primary goals, according to its web site: "To create a beautiful, uplifting environment for Point residents, particularly for children to grow up in" and "To break down the invisible divide between the Point Neighborhood and the rest of Salem by inviting visitors into the Point to experience world-class art first-hand."

The social justice art program was created by North Shore CDC, which invests in neighborhoods to create thriving communities, per its web site. As for the murals and artists, check the art museum's web site for artists and locations of their works. I wish I'd known enough to keep exploring this neighborhood. Oh well, gives me something to look foward to on my next visit.

Heading northwest along Washington Street I stopped to admire a quaint little house tucked between and across the street from several four-story apartment buildings. I make photos of funky places like this in hopes that MACRIS will come through for me.

"Although 259 Washington Street was not listed in a street directory until 1933, stylistically it would appear to have been built with the Audet Apartments next door [which date to 1916]....In 1933 it was listed as the office of Alfred Audet, (possibly associated with the apartment building) with Barry Printing, Peerless Paper Co., and Joseph Perron, millwright, in the rear. There is no front listing for 259 Washington Street in the 1935 street directory. In 1936 Henry Goudreau, a contractor, was listed as having offices here."

Thanks, MACRIS!

It is presently a one-family home.

I peeked down the driveway to a much newer building and saw something I needed to document.

This roached-out sign (tip of the hat to Mike Wolfe from "American Pickers") is for Paul N. Oulette & Sons Pianos, which is (or was) located in this building, which is located on Dodge Street. Currently occupied by The Salem Flea, the building dates to 1945, per MACRIS. As for Paul N. Oulette & Sons, the company was started in 1946 as a piano wholesaler, according to this web site. The company also restored, tuned and moved pianos.

From there I headed north along Washington Street, back toward the Halloween-loving masses. Outside Ledger Restaurant & Bar, I fawned over the clock.

The restaurant is located in the old Salem Savings Bank, which was completedin 1855.

I headed east on Essex Street and spied another ghost sign.

Located on the side of 209 Essex Street, which is occupied by the Hotel Salem, the sign advertised fine apparel, clothes and accessories for Newmark's Store, which moved to this location in 1965. I think I see another layer or perhaps two underneath the sign.

The building opened in 1895 as the home to Naumkeag Clothing Company, and was home to other clothing retailers businesss over the years.

At the eastern end of the Essex Street pedestrian mall is the Peabody Essex Museum. The institution is well known in Massachusetts, and traces it origins back more than 200 years.

"The roots of the Peabody Essex Museum date to the 1799 founding of the East India Marine Society, an organization of Salem ship captains and supercargoes who had sailed near or beyond either the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn," per the PEM web site. "The society’s bylaws included a provision for the establishment of a cabinet of 'natural and artificial curiosities,' which we would now call a museum. Society members came back to Salem with a diverse collection of objects from the Pacific Northwest, Asia, Africa, Oceania, India and elsewhere. By 1825, the society had moved into its own building, East India Marine Hall."

The museum grounds include the hall and other buildings. You can continue reading about the museum's evolution here. Let's talk about East India Marine Hall. "As originally conceived, East India Marine Hall was intended to have third floor pavilions at both ends, and a main entrance on its west side," according to MACRIS. "Ultimately these were eliminated, and a two-story, pitched-roof, granite-facade-and-brick structure constructed, with business rental space at ground level and a commodious exhibition and meeting hall above."

The PEM is the oldest coninually operated museum in the country.

My final stop in Salem was a Quaker burial ground known as Friends' Cemetery.

I was tired and in a bit of a rush, so I just snapped a photo from the sidewalk in front of the graveyard. Established in 1718, the cemetery is Salem's third-oldest and smallest, according to the Historical Marker Database. "For the visitor, the only view into Friends Cemetery is through the Essex Street fence. There one sees a flat, compact, neatly laid out, peaceful cemetery landscape, which reflects its Quaker heritage, with its emphasis on simplicity," according to MACRIS. "Once inside, glimpses of the surrounding clapboarded houses, most of which are recognized historic structures, lend an air of inclusiveness and neighborhood."

I'll have to check it out more thoroughly on my next visit.