Edgar Allan Poe Stationed at Fort Independence
Edgar Allan Poe, the famed poet and author, served briefly in the military as a teenager, under the alias “Edgar A. Perry,” and was stationed for five months at Fort Independence in Boston harbor. Poe,...
View ArticleThe Witches of Dogtown
Dogtown is a ghost town, once a former parish of Gloucester, that is rumored to have been overrun by dogs, vagabonds and suspected witches in the 1800s. This rocky, highland area was once home to about...
View ArticleHenry David Thoreau Arrested For Nonpayment of Poll Tax
In July of 1846, while on his way to Concord to run an errand, Henry David Thoreau was arrested by the local sheriff for failure to pay a poll tax. Thoreau, who believed this poll tax supported the...
View ArticleHenry David Thoreau’s Visit to Dogtown
In September of 1858, Henry David Thoreau and his friend, John Russell of Salem, embarked on a walking tour of the North Shore which concluded with a stop at the infamous Dogtown settlement in...
View ArticleHenry David Thoreau: The Woods Burner
On April 30th, 1844, Henry David Thoreau accidentally burned down half of the Concord woods after his campfire got out of control. The fire burned 300 acres of forest and nearly set the town of Concord...
View ArticleJohn Wilkes Booth Owned Property in Boston
In 1863, after John Wilkes Booth made a small fortune as a popular stage actor, he bought property in the newly created Back Bay neighborhood in Boston, intending to build a house on the lot. Although...
View ArticleThe Disturbance of the Indian Shore Cemetery
In October of 2008, a local historian determined four gravestones that had been propped up against a tree in Lakeville for many years came from an unknown location. After a search of the nearby area,...
View ArticleHistory of Danvers State Hospital
Danvers State Hospital was a psychiatric hospital built in 1874 on Hathorne Hill, where the Salem Witch Trials Judge John Hathorne once lived. The hill is a 257-feet-high glacial drumlin located in...
View ArticleOf Plymouth Plantation
Mayflower pilgrim William Bradford wrote a detailed manuscript describing the pilgrim’s experiences in the New World, now known as “Of Plymouth Plantation,” between the years 1630 and 1651. In the 270...
View ArticleJames Russell Lowell’s Feud with Henry David Thoreau
James Russell Lowell was a U.S. Diplomat, poet and editor who had a longstanding feud with Henry David Thoreau that lasted well after Thoreau’s death. Although Lowell was not the only one at the time...
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