After these first two or three weeks at the Salem Museum I couldn’t be happier with the skills and knowledge that I have obtained. However on an even greater note the exhibit that Alex and myself have been working on was completed and is now open to the public (see attached pictures of the exhibit opening). The exhibits main objective is to give an overview of the history of oldest homes in Salem. One being Old Castle which is no longer standing after a horrendous fire, the other is Preston Place which is the oldest home in Salem.
The family history that comes with the Old Castle exhibit is very vast, and quite amazing to myself that the museum was able to obtain some of the pieces from the house. The Griffith family was one that reaches back very far into Salem history, however one of my favorite portions of the history is the fighting Griffiths which consisted of the four of the nine children during the Civil War era. The brothers were all in different regiments however when they all went to fight for the confederacy they all brought back different stories. Charles Griffith’s calvary sword as well as a black powder pistol that he was said to have taken from the battle field are also featured in the exhibit which may be my favorite case.
As for Preston’s Place the houses history reaches all the way back to the “Great Road” which went all throughout the new states in the 1800s. It is said that some very important players in the establishment of the states had stayed at the house however it is hard to clarify if true or not. As for the future of Preston’s Place it will be leased to a business from Botetourt called the White Oak Tea Tavern, which I actually have close ties with considering the owner is a close friend of my family. What a small world right?
In the coming days I will continue to work on the PastPerfect software and the accessioning of historical pieces.
