Gedney House Museum

Name: Gedney House Museum
Address: 21 High Street, Salem, MA, 01970, US
Telephone: +19787440440
Rating: 5

Home
United States
Salem, MA
Gedney House Museum

Gedney House is currently closed. See you for the 2025 season! Salem shipwright Eleazer Gedney built the earliest portion of the Gedney House in 1665.

Originally, the house was an asymmetrical composition consisting of two rooms on the first floor, a single chamber above, and an attic with a front-facing gable. Significant renovations to the structure in 1712 and 1800 resulted in dramatic changes to the house's appearance. Gedney House was a single family home until the Gedney family sold it in 1773 to Benjamin Cox, who used it for the next twen

ty-five years as an investment property. Around 1800, Cox added two townhouse-style ells to the west elevation of the house, converting it into a multi-family dwelling. During the years that followed, it served as a boarding house and tenement in what was then Salem’s Italian-American neighborhood. In 1967, Historic New England acquired the house as it was being prepared for demolition. The house is significant not only for its framing, but also for its evidence of early decorative finishes in the hall chamber and parlor. Three successive color schemes, the earliest of which is believed to date to the house's construction, were discovered in the hall chamber. This evidence was preserved by the addition of plaster ceilings, beam casings, and paneled walls by the mid-eighteenth century.

10/18/2024

What a night! Chilling Tales for Chilly Nights at Historic New England's Gedney House Museum is in full swing. With performances tonight and tomorrow, come have an eerie evening in one of Salem's oldest houses! We're also spotlighting Historic New England's own Tom Miller, a poet, writer, storyteller, and amazing guide!

Walk-ups are welcome, but you can also purchase your tickets ahead of time here: https://www.historicnewengland.org/property/gedney-house/

Salem Haunted Happenings

10/16/2024

We are just one day away from Chilling Tales for Chilly Nights at Historic New England's Gedney House Museum! Today’s spotlight is on acclaimed poet, Elizabeth Gordon McKim!

Elizabeth Gordon McKim, the “Jazz Poet of Lynn”, is an internationally recognized poet whose work centers on oral tradition, song, and story. Published in several literary magazines including, River Styx and Poetry, Elizabeth has been a visiting poet in hundreds of schools and colleges. She has published multiple books, including her recent memoir “Elizabethridge: A Memoir in Poetry, Song, and Story with Previous Unpublished Poems by Ethridge Knight.”

Tickets are available here: www.historicnewengland.org/gedney-house

See you there!

10/13/2024

Today’s Chilling Tales for Chilly Nights Spotlight at Historic New England's Gedney House Museum is on award-winning, North Shore storyteller Tony Toledo!

Tony Toledo is an energetic and engaging storyteller and Emcee who has been enthralling audiences since 1990. He participates in multiple Open Mics on the North Shore, and works with local libraries and schools to the delight of his listeners. Tony promises thrills and chills for the performances at Gedney House!

Tickets are available here: www.historicnewengland.org/gedney-house

See you there!

10/10/2024

More amazing poets, authors, and storytellers are on the docket for our Chilling Tales spotlight! Today we’re celebrating Lee Eric Freedman!

Lee Eric Freedman has been the Renegade Poet Laureate of Swampscott since 2011. He has led and worked with several community open mics and workshops in Swampscott and on the North Shore, including the Tin Box Poets and ReachArts. Freedman’s work has been published in magazines, anthologies, and poetry quarterlies. He is a three-time recipient of the Naomi Cherkofsky Memorial Contest.

Tickets are available here: www.historicnewengland.org/gedney-house

Can’t wait! Historic New England Salem Haunted Happenings

10/07/2024

We’re getting psyched to get spooked at Chilling Tales for Chilly Nights at Historic New England's Gedney House on October 17, 18, and 19! We’ll be spotlighting the evenings’ storytellers leading up to the event. Today’s spotlight is on M.P. Carver!

M.P. Carver, a poet and visual artist from Salem, MA, serves as Director of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, and miCrO-Founder of Molecule: a tiny lit mag. Her work has appeared in magazines including Rattle, Mantis, Jubilat, and Love’s Executive Order, as well as in the anthology, 9x5. Her chapbook, Selachimorpha, was published in 2015 by Incessant Pipe, and a new chapbook, Hard Up, is forthcoming from Lily Review Books.

Tickets are available here: https://www.historicnewengland.org/property/gedney-house/

See you there! Salem Haunted Happenings

07/03/2024

We're open this Saturday! Come check out the Historic New England's Gedney House from 11am to 3pm, on Saturday, July 6. Learn about the house's history, and visit one of the only properties in Salem with a direct connection to the Witch Trials. See you there!

05/31/2024

We are so excited to be back! Visit us for Historic New England's Open House from 11am to 3pm!

Address

21 High Street
Salem, MA
01970

Telephone

+19787440440

Website

https://www.historicnewengland.org/property/gedney-house/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Gedney House Museum posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Gedney House Museum:

Shortcuts

Our Story

Gedney House is one of thirty-seven properties owned by Historic New England, the oldest and largest regional heritage organization in the nation. We save and share historic homes, open space, collections, and stories from the past to today. Learn more at HistoricNewEngland.org