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Photograph of Joseph Fenno House
Photograph by User:Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Joseph Fenno House--Woman's Friend Society

Built in 1811 in the Federal architecture. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“The Joseph Fenno House-Woman's Friend Society is a historic building at 12-14 Hawthorne Boulevard in Salem, Massachusetts. The building was probably designed by Samuel Field McIntire, son of noted Salem building Samuel McIntire, and built 1811-12 for Joseph Fenno, a feltmaker turned merchant.”

Wikipedia article Joseph Fenno House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 350 National Register listings in Essex County · listed in 2008 · category: Building · built in 1811, Federal architecture · one of 2 National Historic Landmarks in Essex County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 12-14 Hawthorne Blvd., Salem, 01970
  • When was it listed? 2008-09-17
  • Category. building
  • Township. Salem city
  • When was it built? 1811
  • Architectural style. Federal architecture
  • National Register reference number. 08000906 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

51,284 words

The chapter on Salem City in Records of Salem Witchcraft, Copied from the Original Documents, published 1864 names Salem. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Q. what kind of man is Jn° willard : a young man or an old man. A : he is not an old man. he had black hair. Q. what meeting was this meeting : was this that that was near Jngerfals: A: Yes. J think. Q. what did they do then. A. the eat & drank wine: was there a minifter there. A. no : not as J know of : from whence had you your wine : A. from Salem J think was Q.. goodwife Olliver there, yes I knew her.

Passage source: Records of Salem Witchcraft, Copied from the Original Documents, published 1864.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Salem City - 51,284 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

53 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 53 fires within 5 miles of Joseph Fenno House--Woman's Friend Society between 2006 and 2020, burning about 173 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Recreation and ceremony18
Smoking8
Equipment and vehicle use7
Debris and open burning5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Arson/incendiarism3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Fireworks1
Natural1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
5 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
4 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
27 September 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPEABODY
9 August 2016Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlLYNN

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 9,558 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 9,558 specimens collected within 10 miles of Joseph Fenno House--Woman's Friend Society between 1800 and 1975: 3,807 Plantae, 2,875 Animalia, 1,263 Fungi, 936 Chromista, 460 Unrecorded, 155 Bacteria, 62 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A B. Proper, A H HIGGINSON, A. A. Eaton and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
A photograph of the species Rhodocollybia prolixa, not of this specimenRhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta (Fr.) Antonín, Halling & Noordel.1800R. B. MackintoshPeabody
Erysiphaceae1803A. B. Seymour
A photograph of the species Brasenia schreberi, not of this specimenBrasenia schreberi J.F.Gmel.1821not recordedPleasant Pond, Wenham, Mass.
A photograph of the species Lecanora tartarea, not of this specimenLecanora tartarea (L.) Ach.1839E. TuckermanManchester
A photograph of the species Ochrolechia yasudae, not of this specimenOchrolechia yasudae Vainio1839Tuckerman, E.[USA] Manchester, Massachusetts.
A photograph of the species Desmarestia viridis, not of this specimenDesmarestia viridis (O.F.Müll.) J.V.Lamour.1841C. E. PeaseMarblehead
A photograph of the species Polysiphonia urceolata, not of this specimenPolysiphonia urceolata (Lightfoot ex Dillwyn) Greville1841F. S. CollinsRevere Beach, Revere, MA
A photograph of the species Splachnum ampullaceum, not of this specimenSplachnum ampullaceum Hedw.1843A. Gray; W. S. SullivantManchester
A photograph of the species Carex caryophyllea, not of this specimenCarex caryophyllea Latourr.1847C. DeweySalem
A photograph of the species Carex muhlenbergii, not of this specimenCarex muhlenbergii Kunth ex Boott1847F. M. B. Boott
A photograph of the species Ceramium rubrum, not of this specimenCeramium rubrum C.Agardh1848E. Hodges
A photograph of the species Cladophora rupestris, not of this specimenCladophora rupestris (L.) Kütz.1848H. W. W. BaileyLittle Nahant, MA

All 9,558 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Joseph Fenno House--Woman's Friend Society: 5 plants, 1 unknown, 1 producer, 1 past producer. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Zirconium, Thorium, Tungsten. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
(Facility) Travers Labs Refinery--Beverly, Ma.Mercury, Silver, Gold, REEPlant
Hale Engineering Co--Danvers, Ma.TungstenPlant
Thiokol Ventron Div--Danvers, Ma.ThoriumPlant
Thiokol Ventron Div--Beverly, Ma.ZirconiumPlant
Ventron Corp--Beverly, Ma.ZirconiumPast Producer
Swampscott PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
Swampscott QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Swampscott QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Essex County

Storms near this property

10 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Salem, the town this property stands in, in 10 storm reports between 1993 and 2023: 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 flood, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
October 2011Flash FloodNorth Salem$2,500,000Numerous streets were closed due to flooding. In addition, numerous vehicles were reported stuck in water on roads throughout Peabody; occupants had to be rescued and vehicles towed. Parts of Route 128 were impassable due to flooding. The Peabody police station was flooded, damaging training rooms, telephones, three police cruisers, and two motorcycles. Several houses were flooded near the intersection of Washington and Granite Streets. The Lahey Clinic was flooded with 4 to 6 feet of water in the basement and several inches of water in the 1st floor hallways. The fire chief estimated that at least 100 houses and 40 businesses were damaged. In addition, at least 100 basements throughout town were flooded. Flooding was extensive enough that schools were closed.
August 2008FloodSalem$25,000In Salem, Swampscott Road was closed due to flooding and three cars were stuck in floodwaters on Highland Avenue. Cars were stuck in floodwaters on Stettson Road in Swampscott. In Marblehead, West Shore Drive was impassable and closed from Cornell Road to Lafayette Street. In addition, a building was flooded on Salem Street and a house was flooded on Smith Street.
October 2011Thunderstorm WindNorth Salem$10,000A tree was downed onto a house on North Street by thunderstorm winds.
July 2023FloodNorth Salem-In Salem, Pearl St bridge was closed due to flooding.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindSalem-Trees down on Nichol Street.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindSalem-Two trees down in Salem Willows Park. Numerous dime-size hail stones fell at approximately 1845 EST in West Peabody with one or two stones just under the size of a quarter as measured by the son of a NWS meteorologist. Rainfall in Peabody was 1.68 inches.
May 2006HailSalem-no account filed
May 2006HailSalem-no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindSalem-no account filed
July 1996HailSalem-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Essex County

Newspapers printed here

0 digitised pages

1 paper published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 0 issues, 0 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

From the nomination file

11,848 words on record

When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.

Statement of significance

Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.) XA Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. _ B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. X C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. _D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

Criteria Considerations (Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.) Property is: _A owned by religious institution or used for religious purposes. _B removed from its original location. _C a birthplace or grave. _D a cemetery. _E a reconstructed building, object, or structure. _F a commemorative property. _G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.

Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) Essex, MA County and State reas of Significanc Enter categories from instruction Architecture Social History Period of Significance 1811-1958 Significant Dates 1811-1812 1876 1879-1884 Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) Cultural Affiliation NA Architect/Builder Samuel Field Mclntire Arthur G. Richardson 9.

The whole case file for this property - 11,848 words, 31 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 08000906, 31 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Essex Insitiute Historic Districtunder 500 feet1972
Bowker Placeunder 500 feet1983
Charter Street Historic District0.1 miles1975
Salem Landry0.2 miles1983
Old Town Hall Historic District0.2 miles1972
City Hall0.2 miles1973

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 08000906 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Essex CountyAll 350 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.