The Bust on the Staircase
Assembly House.
138 Federal Street, Salem, Massachusetts.
Interior photograph of a stairwell in the Assembly
House, 138 Federal St., Salem, Mass.
Possibly Simeon Skillin(g) Junior.
Image below from:
Erected in 1782 as a Federalist Clubhouse the house was built in two distinct phases. Funded originally by a joint stock venture it served as assembly rooms for social and cultural events. The Marquis de Lafayette was entertained there in 1784 - George Washington dined and danced there in 1789.
Its original architect is unknown. It became obsolete in 1792 with the building of Washington Hall in 1792. One of its original developers systematically bought out the other shares and owned it outright by 1796. Two years later it sold to Judge Samuel Putnam - and Samuel McIntire (1757 - 1811) was engaged to remodel it turning it from a plain public meeting hall into an elaborate and fashionable dwelling McIntires association with the house is documented by two front elevation drawings at the Essex Institute.
It is thought that the decorative features on the staircase were added at this time.
The house was presented to the Essex Institute in 1965.
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For Salem woodcarving see -
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For the Skillin family history see -
A Forgotten Landscape: How A Place Called Crockett's
Corner Became The Maine ...
By M.M. Drymon PhD available on Google books.
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