{"nrhp_refnum":"90000257","name":"Murray, William, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"39 Essex St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Salem","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.52348832000007,"lon":-70.88556200199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-03-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-bay, 2 1/2-story, one-room-deep wood-frame house at 39 Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts. The eastern three bays date to about 1688 and the western three bays were added in the early 18th century.","why_significant":"The house has two First Period frames that show distinctive characteristics of form and construction (Criterion C). The second cell was added while the building was still in the First Period, which is typical of a larger group of First Period houses. The contrast between the c. 1688 section and the early 18th-century section shows how building techniques changed locally. Concealed First Period finishes could yield further information if exposed (Criterion D).","narrative":"Located at 39 Essex Street in Salem, this six-bay, 2 1/2-story house is one room deep and has clapboard walls. Its three eastern bays form a single-cell house built around 1688, which originally had overhangs on the south and east sides. Three bays were added on the west in the early 18th century, and the older roof was later raised to a shallower pitch. The two halves were owned separately from 1759 until the mid-19th century, so two small stair lobbies stand side by side. A 1980 restoration added beaded clapboards to the west part and a new central chimney. Exposed features include a chamfered summer beam with lamb's tongue stops and a chamfered post. Other early finishes remain behind newer walls. The house was listed because its two First Period frames show how local building methods changed, and because the concealed finishes could reveal more about what was apparently an elaborately decorated Salem house.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"First Period core/Second Period exterior","criteria":["C","D"],"status_note":"Recorded in good condition and in use as a residence; restored in 1980.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.75772-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/67/7898/63789867/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000257.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000257/42a36894d6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000257/42a36894d6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Fletcher6","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Murray_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Fletcher6</a>, <a href=\"https://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:William_Murray_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789867","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Murray_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8015964"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/murray-william-house-90000257/"}