It has been a year since launching our first online exhibit, “Set at Liberty: Stories of the Enslaved in a New England Town” and it is still receiving rave reviews. Tune into this Spotlight Talk to learn about how the exhibit was created, the history found in the objects, and the stories that needed to […]
From the 1690s until the early twentieth century at least three tenant farmers and 33 children are known to have been residents at Beverly’s historic Hale Farm. In this virtual lecture we’ll dive into the lives of some of these individuals and share their stories and connections to Beverly’s history including the often overlooked children, […]
Our virtual Historic House Spotlights continue this month with a look inside the Balch House at the upstairs bedroom. Due to COVID restrictions during last summer we were not able to offer the guided tour of the second floor of the Balch House. This is your opportunity to look inside the second floor bedroom to […]
Sweet little old lady? Think again! Looks can be deceiving. Beverly’s long history is chock full of women who stole from the clergy, sat on their neighbors in church, cleverly confessed to practicing witchcraft to escape the gallows, and evicted a sitting United States president. When you think of a witch, what kind of person do […]
October is Massachusetts Archaeology Month so we are focusing our Spotlight on the Balch house archaeology excavation of 1998. In this Spotlight Talk we will explore why the dig was performed, we will see some of the artifacts unearthed from the property and we will take a peek inside our newest online exhibit, “Balch Family […]
The John Cabot House is a Georgian style mansion built in 1781 during the Revolutionary War; it was the first brick mansion built in Beverly. The wealth of the Cabot family is reflected in the architecture of the house, the beautifully carved paneling, and decorations such as the Dutch tiles surrounding the fireplace in the […]
Join us as we celebrate opening day as Hale Farm and the Balch House open for our Summer season with free admission at all three sites. A Park for the Ages: Lynch Park opens at the Cabot House. Colonial crafts and archaeology activity at the Balch House. All ages festival at Hale Farm features family […]
Conant Street is rich in history with the Conant Street Burial Ground, the North Meeting House and dozens of homes of the Batchelder, Dodge, Conant, and Woodberry families all in the mix. This brand new, short but dense walking tour will take you back over 300 years to explore an area of the city that […]
Looking forward to seeing everyone in person this year, for our biennial gathering of descendants of Beverly's early settlers and everyone that loves colonial history. Final program and registration form Thursday, September 29 7:00 pm New Wayfinding Map of Abbott Street Cemetery Audrey Aristeo spent a year constructing an accurate, up-to-date inventory and new wayfinding […]
Have you ever wondered about some of the first African-Americans in Beverly? In this program we will tell stories of some African-Americans and other people of color through objects and documents in Historic Beverly’s collection, including ship cargo logs, wills, bills of sale, newspapers, and many other documents, including some associated with anti-slavery organizations. We […]
Colonial New Englanders were prolific imbibers, drinking roughly three times as much alcohol as modern Americans. Drinking was not only a means of physical and emotional survival but also the driving force behind the growing popularity of taverns that played a vital role in colonial political and social life. Join us at Historic Beverly’s 1694 […]
Explore the area that was known as the Bass River Side where the five “Old Planters” (Conant, Balch, Trask, Woodberry & Palfrey) received a “Thousand Acre Grant” in 1635. During this walk we will visit sites that have connections to these families and how they helped shape Beverly as we know it today. 1.6 miles […]