{"nrhp_refnum":"75000294","name":"Charter Street Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bounded by Liberty, Derby, Central, and Charter Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Salem","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.52049561900003,"lon":-70.89228924399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-03-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Literature","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small historic district in Salem, Massachusetts, of about one acre, made up of the Grimshawe House (c.1770), the Pickman House (dated c.1638 or c.1680) and the Charter Street Cemetery (Burying Point, c.1637) between them.","why_significant":"The district holds the only remaining elements of a once busy business and residential neighborhood near the South River. It is tied to Salem's earliest settlers and to Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Peabody sisters. The cemetery is Salem's oldest burying ground, and the Pickman House is one of the few surviving 17th century houses in New England, despite alterations.","narrative":"Three linked properties make up this small Salem district: the Grimshawe House, the Pickman House and the Charter Street Cemetery, also called the Burying Point. The cemetery, in use by 1637, is the oldest burying ground in Salem. It holds the grave of Captain Richard More, the only known gravestone of a Mayflower passenger, along with those of Governor Simon Bradstreet, the woodcarver Samuel McIntire and Judge Hathorne. The Grimshawe House, a three-story Federal building from about 1770, was home to the Peabody family from 1835 to 1841. Nathaniel Hawthorne courted Sophia Peabody there and later used the house and cemetery in his writing. The Pickman House at 20 Liberty Street dates to either c.1638 or c.1680, and its carved 17th century frame survives within a 1972-73 restoration. Both houses were altered over time, and the surrounding neighborhood has disappeared, but the group preserves the remaining physical traces of that area and its literary and early settlement associations.","period_of_significance":"1600-1699, 1700-1799 (specific dates c.1637, c.1770)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal (Grimshawe House); early 17th century wooden house (Pickman House)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Marked occupied; present uses include private residence and cemetery. The Grimshawe House was altered, and the Pickman House was extensively restored in 1972-73.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.389731-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/7949/63794926/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000294.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000294/b164c291e5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000294/b164c291e5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Willjay (talk) (Uploads)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PickmanHouse_Salem_Massachusetts.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Willjay (talk) (Uploads)</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PickmanHouse_Salem_Massachusetts.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794926","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_Street_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5086751"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/charter-street-historic-district-75000294/"}