Quick History Stops: Danvers & Beverly, MA

In September 2024, I visited places and attended programs in Essex National Heritage Area as part of its annual event Trails & Sails. On my second day, I took quick history stops in Danvers and Beverly, MA between visits to Hospital Point Lighthouse; Historic Beverly’s Cabot House, Balch House, and Hale Farm; and Central Cemetery in Beverly. I visited the typical historic homes, parks, churches, and public buildings along with a stop at the oldest fruit tree in the United States.

The first stop of the day was Rebecca Nurse Farm, which was hosting an atlatl throwing event led by Massachusetts Archaeological Society (MAS). I had visited their museum, Robbins Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, back in August. I did not go inside the 17^th century buildings but did learn a bit of their history. Besides their fame as the home of Salem Witch Trials victim Rebecca Nurse, these were restored to their current form in 1909 by architect Joseph Everett Chandler. He was a friend of William Sumner Appleton, Jr. who founded of Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), now called Historic New England (HNE). In 1915, pair restored Browne House in Watertown, MA. Chandler designed the mansion Red Roof for politician A. Piatt Andrew, the friend and neighbor of interior designer Henry Davis Sleeper, whose own mansion Beauport was later donated to HNE because of this connection. Finishing up this complex legacy, Rebecca Nurse Farm did belong to SPNEA from 1926 to 1981 when American Revolutionary War era reenactment group Danvers Alarm List Company bought the property.

Since I was in the area, I had to visit the Endecott Pear Tree in Danvers, officially the “oldest cultivated tree in America plated ca. 1632” according to a nearby plaque erected by the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century. (This society was founded in 1915 and not to be confused with National Society of the Colonial Dames of America [NSCDA] founded in 1891 and from The Colonial Dames of America [CDA] founded in 1890. I am almost scared to research what happened here.) The tree received its name from its planter, John Endecott, who had served as the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. The pear tree was a bit of a let down, as it is behind a fence and too old to grow pears.

A better stop was Independence Park in Beverly. A nice plaque erected by the now-defunct Col. Ebenezer Francis Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (yet another group!) noted that the Declaration of Independence was read from the park on July 17, 1776, hence its current name. Additionally, a battleship called the Hannah was outfitted in the area. A model of this boat is now on display at Cabot House. I especially liked the patriotic flags and little replica canon pointed towards the water, as if the British were set to sail in any minute. Naturally, this area had its own plaque, letting visitors know that it was created by the Beverly American Revolution Bicentennial Committee about fifty years ago.

Moving on to the center of town, I saw plenty of elegant red brick buildings and towering churches, no doubt why this entire area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Beverly Center Business District since 1984. Gothic revival style Odd Fellows Hall has stood on Cabot Street since 1893 and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. Directly across the street is the federal style Beverly City Hall built as a private residence in 1783 at the behest of Andrew Cabot, for whom the street was named. The building became town hall in 1871. The Cabot Street YMCA was built in 1911 specifically as a YMCA building with its name engraved above the entrance. This branch of the organization offers affordable apartments to people of all ages, genders, and religions, not just Young Men Christians as the name implies.

The street had many churches. The first I encountered was First Baptist Church in Beverly. According to Primary Research, a local history project in Beverly, the congregation formed in 1801 and built its original church in 1869. When the original building burned down in 1975, as often happens to classic white New England churches, the towering steeple was saved and incorporated into the new church. The combination of a late 1970s red brick design and the steeple set on the ground beside it makes for an interesting profile.

Not far down the street was First Parish Church in Beverly, Unitarian Universalist. I really liked the cheery yellow paint color. Described in an extensive writeup on the official church website, the congregation was founded in 1667 under the leadership of Rev. John Hale as a Puritan church. It became Congregationalist during the 18^th century, Unitarian in the early 19^th century, and Unitarian Universalist by the mid-20^th century.

St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church was the next stop. This towering gothic revival building is one of three churches in the Beverly Catholic Collaborative, the others being St. John the Evangelist on New Balch Street and St. Margaret of Scotland on Hale Street. As an added bonus, I have previously written about why Mary is sometimes called “Star of the Sea”, so it is exciting to see history in modern life. An article on Primary Research indicated that this church was probably built in 1871.

The final church in the section of town, which I viewed from afar, is the Dane Street Congregational Church building. It currently houses Anchor Bay Church, a congregation that began in 1999. The building is much older with its current form dating from 1896. The only other stop in this area was the red brick building that once held Beverly National Bank, which closed in 1955. A time capsule was added to the cite in 2002 during a 200^th anniversary celebration of the building, constructed in 1802.

While plenty goes on in the center of Beverly, I also enjoyed the quieter edges. St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Beverly is a stone church built between 1928 and 1930, right at the beginning of the Great Depression. The congregation dated back to 1863 and had originally met in Union Hall, across the street from First Parish Church and next to the YMCA. Down the street is Beverly Common, established as grazing land for local livestock back in 1705. Today, it is a quiet walk with a cute gazebo. The area even has a sign for the Essex Coastal Scenic Byway, a relaxing ninety-mile drive along the North Shore. The final interesting place for the day was a mansion at 2 Butman Street. Despite the unfortunate name, this three-story, eight-bed, three-bath house built in 1898 is the type of property I expect to see in Beverly. My favorite feature on the house was the pair of turrets facing Dane Street, which turned the home into a castle.