THE EVOLUTION OF THE SALEM DOORWAY
The Salem doorway, like all institutions, architectural or otherwise,
was the fruit of a gradual process of evolution or development from
simple forms to those more elaborate and complete, and kept pace more
or less evenly in this process with the changing character of the
buildings of which it formed a part. Almost two hundred years elapsed
between the hasty erection of the first log cabins at Naumkeag in 1626
to the culmination of the Colonial vogue in 1818. Yet, two hundred
years is a very brief time in which to complete a process of evolution
such as this--comparing the rude aperture closed by its swinging shield
of slabs, which formed the doorway of the earliest Salem dwelling,
with the ornate, dignified, and beautiful entrance to a typical Salem
home at the expiration of the period, with classic columns, fluted
pilasters, carved rosettes and festoons, spreading fanlight with its
spider-web tracery of leading, and paneled door set off by latch and
knocker of shining brass. The truth is that this was a process of
assisted evolution; for skilled English craftsmen, workers in wood and
in iron were among the earliest settlers at Salem; they were familiar
with the architectural forms and designs of the homeland; and working
in the tractable material of white pine, they reproduced with increased
effect the patterns which in the old country were necessarily wrought
in stone.
The business of ship-building, rapidly increasing in the port, gave
occupation to large numbers of carvers in wood, who produced ornate
decorations in the captains’ cabins, and the famous figureheads which
graced the bows of the old-time clippers. At off-seasons, these
craftsmen found occupation in the builders’ trade; and thus in many
ways the evolution of the ornamental doorway and porch was hastened.
It is possible to roughly divide the architecture of Old Salem into
four or perhaps five general periods, which are determined by the
type of dwelling most frequently erected during the time. As a matter
of fact, these periods blend or overlap so that there is no sharp
and distinct demarcation between them; it is sufficient to say that
the doorways of Old Salem took form and character in keeping with
the changing type of dwelling, simple with the simplicity of the
structure, becoming more elaborate as the house became more ambitious
and pretentious, and reaching their climax in ornateness with the
three-story square mansions of brick which characterized the closing
years of the Colonial period.
The earliest houses at Salem were, of course, mere cabins of logs,
roughly and hastily built, utility being the only consideration. They
were for shelter from the weather, and for protection against enemies,
whether beasts or men. The doorway, therefore, was a mere opening in
the log wall, which could be barred at a moment’s notice, converting
the little hut into a sturdy fortress. In the first rude architecture
of the colonists no thought was given--for in the exigencies of the
situation none could be given--to style and attractiveness, utility
being, through stern necessity, the prime factor in the construction of
their simple homes.
A love of beauty, however, was by no means wanting; and this soon
became evident in the beginning of decoration, simple enough, it is
true, as was natural, but showing a desire to make the doorway, always
architecturally speaking the keynote of the dwelling’s exterior, as
attractive as possible.
The first period of Salem’s architectural development, passing over the
very earliest years as of little or no value, was characterized by the
construction of gabled houses of various kinds, from the simple story
and a half cottage to more complex and rambling structures, of which
the famous ‘House of the Seven Gables’ is a conspicuous example. Others
are the Deliverance Parkman house and the Governor Bradstreet mansion
(1638) pictures of which may be seen in the Essex Institute at Salem;
the beginnings of the ornamental doorway are to be found in both these
instances, recessed somewhat to afford protection from the weather, and
possessing an arched lintel of the characteristic Elizabethan type.
The door of the Bradstreet mansion is ornamented by a lozenge pattern,
corresponding with the diamond panes of the casement windows, the
intersections of the pattern being marked by large-headed nails. The
trim of the early doorways was simple in the extreme, the architrave
and pediment tentatively emerging as though feeling their way. Some of
the oldest houses of the second, or lean-to period, possess enclosed
porches with gable roofs and small sashes in the sides for lighting the
dark entry.
But with the advent of the gambrel-roofed house, an adaptation of the
French Mansard, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, Salem
doorways become at once important in architectural value. Pilaster and
architrave, pediment and column, come boldly to the front and assume
their rightful place. Top-light and side-light come into general use.
With the appearance of the square wooden house of three stories, soon
after the Revolution, these historic doorways and porches may be said
to reach almost their full development, the genius of Samuel McIntire
carrying this on to its peak, the full fruition of his work being seen
in the entrances to the red-brick mansions of the beginning of the
nineteenth century, against whose mellow background the pure white
classic forms of porch and doorway stand out in striking and delightful
contrast. After 1818, the Colonial style began to suffer its decline.