The Pickering House

 

When seeing Salem, start where it all began. The Pickering Foundation welcomes you to an extraordinary place.

It is not only Salem's oldest House, but also America's oldest Home: home to a single family for over three and a half centuries; home to carpenters, farmers, patriots, military leaders, deacons, diplomats, linguists, and statesmen. And as homes will, it changed with the times.

Built in 1660 by settler John Pickering and his wife Elizabeth, it was a two-room farmhouse on a vast plot of land that ran all the way down to the seaport on the North River, encompassing what is today Chestnut Street and the McIntire District.

Over the next 350 years, the succeeding John Pickerings and their wives added wings, gables, and Gothic peaks. They raised ceilings, extended the roofline and created the distinctive fence. The Pickering House evolved into the warm and gracious home it is today.

 

 

Source:
Pickering House

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Updated May 24, 2017

List of trips to this site

• Patriots of the American Revolution — Road trip to their birthplaces and homes
• Visiting the homes of America's Founding Fathers on a Historic America Road Trip

Shop for gifts for history lovers:

• Our trademarked "History Nerd" shirt, caps, mug, stickers and more

• Our 1776 collection with historic documents, shirts, mug, static clings and more

• Declaration of Independence printed by hand on a historic press