Pioneer Village Salem Massachusetts
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Pioneer Village, also known as Salem 1630: Pioneer Village, was created in 1930 as a set for a play, held in Forest River Park. Audience members sat in the park and watched the recreation of what Salem, Massachusetts may have looked like in 1630 at the arrival of John Winthrop.
The set was meant to be temporary, but the City of Salem and all of Essex County, Massachusetts had fallen in love with it so it was saved from re-development. Salem Pioneer Village, the first living history museum in the United States, opened in June 1930.
Visitors could gain an appreciation for the spirit of these English settlers as they could imagine their lives. Rather than simply read about them, one could see in action a blacksmith’s shop, a sawmill, a saltworks, gardens, fireplaces, a Dugout, a Wigwam, and thatched roof cottages. The featured attraction was the Governor’s House, a “fayre house” representing what might have been built for Governor John Endicott in 1628.
The museum has been undergoing a renovation under the supervision of Salem Preservation, Inc. since 2003. There is currently a bidding process undertaken by the Salem, Massachusetts Parks and Recreation Commission to determine who will run it in the future. The two groups include Gordon College (Massachusetts) and businessmen Leif Rochna and James Shea. Mr. Shea, who is the Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission and is the former employer of Mr. Rochna, has not yet officially recused himself from the decision making process.
[edit] References
- Gannon, Fred A., “A story of the Arbella, of Pioneer Village, and of Lincoln's address”. Cassino Press, Salem, 1945
- Gannon, Fred A., “Tools and trades in Pioneer's Village”. Cassino Press, Salem, 1940
- “Early American industries portrayed at the Pioneer's Village, Salem, Mass. : ye programme twelfth and thirteenth of September, Nineteen hundred and thirty six”. Salem Chamber of Commerce, 1936
