Salem Common Historic District

Salem Common and the streets around it form a 76-acre district of 266 properties in eastern Salem, Massachusetts. Most are residences, set close to the street, with brick Federal mansions facing the Common. Built by merchants and sea captains, they reflect Salem's wealth from maritime trade. Two seventeenth-century houses, the Narbonne House and the Daniels House of 1667, are among the oldest buildings. Other styles include Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival. The Common itself was a marshy area, was set aside as a training field in 1714, and was improved in 1801 through a subscription led by Elias Hasket Derby, with gateways by Samuel McIntire. Residents included Judge Joseph Story, philanthropist George Peabody and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The district is notable for its architectural quality, scale and cohesion, and for its large concentration of essentially unaltered buildings, which record Salem's growth and periods of prosperity.