Chestnut Street Days
From Salem Links and Lore
- Chestnut Street Days was a tradition started in 1926, designed to coincide with the Salem Tercentenary celebration. The neighborhood organized the event and opened and conducted tours of more than a dozen homes in what has been called "the most beautiful street in America." Residents and volunteers dressed in period costumes and some even portrayed famous Salem figures such as Mrs. Spencer, "the Gilbratar lady", sisters of the poet Jones Very, and Rev. William Bentley. Lunch was served in various places and demonstrations abounded in bookbinding, silversmithing and weaving.
The Salem Cadet Band played and a stagecoach on loan from the Appleton's in Ipswich lent an elegant tone to the proceedings. The event was successful and was repeated four more times over the next 50 years. The proceeds from these were earmarked for a specific projects on Chestnut Street.
- This event was the precursor of the present day Christmas Tour put on by the non-profit organization Historic Salem, Inc. They have been organizing this popular Christmas Tour annually for 25 years.
- The Christmas Tour was originally brought back by the Greater Salem Visiting Nurse Association as a fund-raiser for 15 years
