Shetland Park
Shetland Park, an office park on the waterfront by the Pickering Wharf area, has 5 large buildings on 35 acres. This property was formerly known as Pequot Mills, home to the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Co. Robert Lappin purchased the old complex in 1958. He has owned and run it for the last 53 years in his home town of Salem.
A recreated antique house called the Pequot House was built in front of Shetland Park. This house was built for the 1930 tercentenary of the settling of Massachusetts.
The Park soared in popularity when he added large windows to capture the view of the waterfront in the 1980's. In the past it had about a dozen manufacturers and businesses, but mostly empty buildings. The installation of pictures windows was the start of the transformation to an office park. It is home to both private businesses and public agencies and has 2,000 parking spaces in the center of the complex.
Robert Lappin was very involved in Jewish institutions and causes. He ran the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation. The city park at the corner of Essex and Washington Streets is named in memory to his parents. Lappin Park was in the news in 2005 when cable network TV Land erected the Bewitched statue at this park.
Robert Lappin passed away on April 3, 2020 at the age of 98.
In May of 2008, the Registry of Deeds moved into space at the park as the new courthouse on Federal Street was being built. The Registry of Deeds will be moving to a smaller office in the Cummings Center in Beverly in late 2024.
See Also
Vertical File in Salem Collection - Shetland Park
"Shetland Office park is not the old mill it once was" Salem Evening News, July 3, 1996, p. A1
"Shetland Park celebrates 50 years; Lappin transformed former Pequot Mills into waterfront offices" Salem News, Oct. 15, 2008, p. 1
"Businesses growing at Shetland Park" Salem Evening News, Mar. 14, 2001, P. A3
"Registry moving to Cummings Center" Salem News, Jan. 8, 2024, p.1
