Chestnut Street Historic District

Chestnut Street from Summer Street, Salem, Massachusetts

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The view looking west on Chestnut Street from the corner of Summer Street in Salem, around 1890-1910. Image courtesy of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, Frank Cousins Glass Plate Negatives Collection.

The scene in 2023:

These two photos show the view looking west on Chestnut Street from the east end of the street, at Summer Street. As described in previous posts, the street was developed in the early 19th century as an upscale residential neighborhood. At the time, Salem was a major seaport, and Chestnut Street became home to many of Salem’s merchants and sea captains. Most of the houses feature Federal-style architecture, although there are also some examples of later 19th century styles, including the Italianate home on the right side, which was built in 1853.

The top photo was taken around the turn of the 20th century by Frank Cousins, who documented many of the historic homes and streetscapes in Salem. Since then, very little has changed aside from the paved street and the parked cars. Overall, the street is one of the best-preserved examples of a Federal-style neighborhood in New England, and it is part of the Chestnut Street District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Gregg-Stone House, Salem, Massachusetts

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The house at 8 Chestnut Street in Salem, around 1890-1910. Image courtesy of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, Frank Cousins Glass Plate Negatives Collection.

The house in 2023:

According to the MACRIS documentation for this house, it was built around 1805 by Daniel Gregg, and was originally a one-story building. It stood adjacent to the South Church, which was later lost in a fire, and it was used as a store. However, it was later purchased by John Stone, who expanded it around 1829 by adding the upper stories. He used it as a rental property for about a decade, before moving into the house in 1839.

During the second half of the 19th century, the house had a number of different owners and residents. The top photo was taken sometime around the turn of the 20th century by Frank Cousins, a photographer who used his camera to document the many historic homes in Salem. Not much has changed in this scene since then, and today the house still looks essentially the same as it did more than a century after the top photo was taken.

Chestnut Street from Cambridge Street, Salem, Massachusetts

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The view looking west on Chestnut Street from the corner of Cambridge Street in Salem, around 1890-1910. Image courtesy of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, Frank Cousins Glass Plate Negatives Collection.

The scene in 2023:

These two photos show the view looking down Chestnut Street, which was developed in the early 19th century as an upscale residential neighborhood for Salem’s merchant class. Most of the homes feature Federal style architecture, and some of the ones in this scene have been highlighted in previous posts, including the James B. Bott House, the John C. Lee House, and the Captain Jonathan Hodges House.

Closest to the foreground, at the corner of Cambridge Street, is the house at 10 Chestnut Street, which was built around 1808 as the home of merchant Nathan Robinson. He lived here until his death in 1835, and the house was subsequently owned by several other families before being purchased by artist Philip Little in 1888. He was living here when the top photo was taken around the turn of the 20th century, and he remained here until his death in 1942.

Today, very little has changed in more than a century since the top photos was taken. All of the houses are still standing, and most have remained relatively unaltered. The street is one of the best surviving examples of a Federal-style residential neighborhood anywhere in New England, and it is part of the Chestnut Street District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Captain Jonathan Hodges House, Salem, Massachusetts

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The house at 12 Chestnut Street in Salem, probably around 1890-1910. Image courtesy of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, Frank Cousins Glass Plate Negatives Collection.

The house in 2023:

This house was built around 1804 as the home of Captain Jonathan Hodges, his wife Mary, and their six children. Hodges was a merchant, and the early 19th century was the height of Salem’s prosperity as a seaport. During that time, this area around Chestnut Street was developed as a fashionable residential area for the city’s merchants and other wealthy residents. Many in the neighborhood were designed by architect Samuel McIntire, including this one, although this is the only house on Chestnut Street itself that is documented to McIntire.

It was originally built as a two-family home, and from 1805 to 1811 the Hodges family shared it with Jonathan Hodges’s former apprentice, Nathaniel Bowditch. As a boy in the 1780s, Bowditch had been indentured to Ropes & Hodges Chandlery, where he gained experience in bookkeeping. He later taught himself algebra and calculus, sailed as a ship’s clerk and later as a captain, and eventually published his famous book, Bowditch’s American Practical Navigator. By the time he moved into this house he was about 32 years old, and was married to his second wife Mary. They had an infant son, Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch, and over the years they would have seven more children.

The Bowditch family eventually moved to a different house, but Hodges remained here for the rest of his life. In 1829 he sold the house to his niece, Sally F. Orne, but eh continued to live here until his death in 1837. According to the house’s MACRIS documentation, subsequent 19th an early 20th century owners included Jonathan Willard Peele, Nathan Nichols, and Emily C. F. West. Emily West owned the house when the top photo was taken around the turn of the 20th century, and it remained in her family until 1941.

Today, more than a century after the top photo was taken, not much has changed in the exterior appearance of this house or the surrounding streetscape. Even the tree on the far left side of the photo is still there from the top photo, standing in front of the adjacent John C. Lee house. Overall, the house survives as a good example of early 19th century Federal-style architecture, and along with the rest of the street it is now part of the Chestnut Street District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

John C. Lee House, Salem, Massachusetts

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The house at 14 Chestnut Street in Salem, probably around 1890-1910. Image courtesy of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, Frank Cousins Glass Plate Negatives Collection.

The house in 2023:

These two photos show the house at 14 Chestnut Street in Salem, which was built in 1834-1835 as the home of John Clarke Lee. It is one of the newer houses on Chestnut Street, as most of the other homes were built in the first few decades of the 19th century. As a result, it is architecturally different from most of the other homes. While the rest of the street consists primarily of symmetrical, three-story Federal-style homes with hipped roofs, this house is an early example of Greek Revival architecture. It features a gabled roof, and the front façade is decorated with four pilasters that give the house something of the appearance of an ancient Greek temple.

John Clarke Lee was a prominent merchant and banker who later became a partner in the Boston-based investment banking firm of Lee, Higginson & Co. He was about 30 years old when he moved into this house, and by this point he and his wife Harriet already had a large and growing family, with five young children. They subsequently had five more children, and in total all but one of their children lived to adulthood. Among their children was George Cabot Lee, whose daughter Alice Hathaway Lee became the first wife of Theodore Roosevelt.

The house remained in the Lee family for nearly a century. John died in 1877 and Harriet in 1885, but their son Francis inherited the house. He was living here when the top photo was taken around the turn of the 20th century, and he was responsible for adding the porch at the front door, as shown in the two photos. He died in 1913, and his widow Sophia subsequently sold the house in 1924.

The next owner of the house was Frank W. Benson, a prominent Impressionist painter from Salem. He was in his early 60s when he purchased the house, and by this point he had established himself as one of the leading American painters of the early 20th century. Benson was known for his portraits, along with en plein air landscapes of the seacoasts and mountains of New England. He lived here in this house until his death in 1951, at the age of 89.

Today, the house is still standing, with few exterior changes since the top photo was taken more than a century ago. Even the tree on the far right side of the scene appears to be the same one in both photos. Along with the rest of the street, the house is now part of the Chestnut Street District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

James B. Bott House, Salem, Massachusetts

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The house at 18 Chestnut Street, at the corner of Bott Street in Salem, probably around 1890-1910. Image courtesy of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, Frank Cousins Glass Plate Negatives Collection.

The house in 2023:

These two photos show the house at 18 Chestnut Street, which was built around 1800 or possibly earlier. It was originally owned by saddler James B. Bott, and according to the building’s Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS) form, it was likely used as a multi-family residence. It had a number of occupants throughout the first half of the 19th century, but the most famous was author Nathaniel Hawthorne, who lived here with his family in 1846 and 1847 while serving as Surveyor of the the Port of Salem at the Custom House on Derby Street. This house was too small for the Hawthornes, though, and in 1847 they moved to a house on Mall Street, where Nathaniel would later write The Scarlet Letter.

The house was eventually converted into a single-family residence in the late 19th century, and the top photo was taken sometime around the turn of the 20th century. It was taken by photographer Frank Cousins, who extensively documented the historic houses of Salem and other towns in the region. As the bottom photo shows, very little has changed about this scene since then. The house is still standing, as are the other surrounding homes, and Chestnut Street as a whole survives as one of the best-preserved historic streets in New England. The Bott House, along with the other homes on Chestnut Street, is part of the Chestnut Street District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.