Salem

Once a more important port than Boston, and center of America' prosperous China Trade, Salem retains much of its 18th- and 19th-century architecture, with entire neighborhoods of imposing homes that were built for successful merchants and sea captains. Retained, too, are memories of its grimmer early history as the scene of the Salem Witch Trials. Several of the finest homes are open to tour, furnished with generations of fine antiques and with decorative arts brought from the Far East. This is perhaps New England's finest assemblages of historic homes from this period.

Perhaps Salem's best known historic home is the House of the Seven Gables, made famous by the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose Salem home you can also tour. The only building directly connected with the witch trials is the 1642 Witch House, home of the presiding Judge Jonathan Corwin. The Salem Maritime National Historic Site includes the docks, a replica sailing ship, the Customs House, warehouses, exhibits, the historic Pickering Wharf, and two historic homes. The fastest and most convenient way to get to Salem from Boston is on the Boston to Salem High Speed Ferry, which departs Boston's Long Wharf and arrives in Salem within a few steps of the House of the Seven Gables.

Address: 310 1/2 Essex Street. Salem, MA 01970. United States
Official site: www.salem.org

Phone: 800-322-1128
Entrance fee: Adult: $16.50 ; Senior Citizen: $15.00 ; Children (3 - 14 years):. $13.50
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