$176K AWARD FOR TWO HISTORIC SALEM LANDMARKS (AUTUMN 2025)

Salem’s Counting House. Typically located at or near a busy wharf, counting houses were places to balance accounts, pay fees due and figure profit before or after a sea journey.


Relocating Salem’s ancient Counting House has come a step nearer with a welcome decision by the State of Massachusetts to offer funding to coastal communities faced with the threat from climate change.

The city’s Hooper Hathaway House will also benefit from measures to be taken to flood proof the building.


Salem is justifiably proud of its rich architectural heritage, with many major building styles represented within its borders.  Pictured right is the Crowninshield-Bentley House, built in 1729 in a typical Georgian Colonial style for merchant and ship captain John Crowninshield.


The Captain, son of a German physician who emigrated in 1684, grew successful as Salem emerged as a major player in the maritime economy of the 18th century.


Dating back to 1684, the John Ward House, seen left, is one of the finest surviving 17th century buildings in New England. Originally built for a successful leatherworker, it stood on a one-acre plot with a kitchen garden, an out-house, and a well — standing opposite the jail used during the Salem Witch Trials.


In order to preserve the house from demolition, it was moved to the Peabody Essex Museum campus in 1910 under the direction of curator and preservationist George Francis Dow.

Photos: Peabody Essex Museum


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