SALEM — The city of Salem and the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) have announced that the museum’s historic Samuel Pickman House will be used as the new Charter Street Cemetery welcome center when the cemetery reopens to the public on May 1.
Charter Street Cemetery was established in 1637 and, as Salem’s oldest burial ground, it contains one of the region’s finest collections of gravestone carvings.
The Pickman House dates back to 1665 and is one of the city’s oldest surviving structures. Historic Salem Inc. purchased the property in 1964 to do some preservation work on it before it was purchased by the PEM in 1983, where it was completely conserved.
The new welcome center will allow the city to monitor the occupancy of the historic burial ground, provide consistent surveillance of stones and walkways, and secure the grounds at closing. It will also offer an opportunity to share information and history of the 17th century cemetery, the evolution of stone carving, the historic preservation process, and the individuals buried there.
“We are thrilled to breathe new life into this important historic structure and to do so in such a meaningful, relevant, and impactful way,” said PEM’s Acting Chief Operating Officer Robert Monk. “The museum’s historic house collection is renowned in scope and scale and helps tell the story of Salem through four centuries of design.”
He hopes visitors to the Charter Street Cemetery will feel immersed in history and transported by PEM’s Pickman House.
The house will highlight the historical significance of not only the Pickman House, but of the Witch Trials Memorial and the surrounding area.
“This is a unique opportunity to better manage visitation in this sensitive space, interpret the history of the cemetery and surrounding area, and also generate funds to ensure the ongoing care of the cemetery,” said Mayor Kimberley Driscoll. “I am enormously grateful to the leadership at PEM and the many city staff who have worked to develop this innovative concept. As a city committed to the preservation and interpretation of our unique history, the Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center presents a singular opportunity to connect visitors, students, and residents to the important lessons and legacies of our past.”
The welcome center will function similarly to that of the Jonathan Corwin House, also known as the Witch House. The city’s Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Department will oversee the staffing and operations, including the sale of retail items from the gift shop space and providing maps of the cemetery for a small donation, including to walking tour groups.
The welcome center will offer self-guided tours as well as staff-provided tours of the cemetery on a set schedule for an additional admission fee.
All of the funds from the welcome center will be generated toward the center’s operation and the ongoing maintenance and care of the Charter Street Cemetery.
The center will be open year-round and will be handicap accessible. All visitors to the cemetery will be encouraged to begin their visit at the welcome center. Guidelines will direct groups not using the space for educational purposes to use the adjacent Charlotte Forten Park for congregating and picnicking, and tour groups will be limited to 15 people.
The center will work with the PEM and Salem’s preservation partners to offer programming on a routine basis to provide additional educational opportunities. The PEM is currently developing a series of audio postcards that will reveal the history of the building, share architectural highlights and tell the stories of the people who lived there. This series will kick off with the Samuel Pickman House and will be posted to pem.org.
The Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center will follow all COVID-19 reopening and safe- operation regulations issued by the state and the city of Salem, including capacity limits.
