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Hamilton Hall Overview

  • Built for $22,000 in 1805 on the newly-laid out Chestnut Street, with (we believe) one of the few original large-scale sprung floors still existing in the country.

  • The first event was the Christmas Dance in December 1805 (opposed by Rev. Dr. Hopkins of South Church across the street)

  • Samuel McIntire (1757-1811) - architect, woodcarver, and carpenter. Interesting sidenote: McIntire was a Renaissance man, so to speak. He could build as well as design houses, and was responsible for some of furniture, mantle pieces, and other wood carving in homes throughout the neighborhood. This neighborhood is called the McIntire District in honor of him, but that doesn’t mean he designed and built every house.

  • Named in memory of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), who led the Federalists during the political turmoil in 19th century Salem between Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans. Each party was determined to have a gathering place, which led to the construction of Hamilton Hall by the Federalists.

  • Hamilton Hall was once privately owned by the Proprietors, who were essentially shareholders in the building and grounds. Mostly consisting of residents of Chestnut Street (many sea captains and merchants among them), these shareholders passed down their part ownership in the building through family lines or sold their shares to others for decades. 

  • In 1985 the building became a registered non-profit open to the public with a volunteer board and small part-time staff. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

  • Some of the famous people who have attended dinners and balls at the Hall include both presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette, and President John Quincy Adams.

  • A rich part of our history is the story of the Remonds, the caterers at Hamilton Hall for nearly 50 years between the 1800s - 1850s. More below.

  • The Hall owes a great debt to the Ladies Committee, a group of women volunteers who started a lecture series at the Hall in 1946 to raise money for repairs. The lecture series will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2026 and continues to provide key support to the Hall.

 

Room-By-Room Highlights

Pickering Room 

  • This room is named for Colonel Timothy Pickering who was the third United States Secretary of State under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. He also represented Massachusetts in both houses of Congress as a member of the Federalist Party. His home is nearby on Broad Street. 

  • The eagle hung over the mantle was carved by Samuel McIntire. It hung outside the Hall for over 200 years. In 2015, the eagle was painstakingly preserved, moved indoors, and replaced by a fiberglass replica on the exterior of the building. 

  • The china in the cabinets are representative of the China trade. Many of the wealthy sea captains who made up the Hall’s first membership made their fortune through trade with China. 

The Brick Hearth Room 

  • This room is named for the imposing brick oven, which is specifically called a “Rumford Roaster.” It was considered the cutting-edge culinary technology of the early nineteenth century. 

  • The Rumford Roaster (named for Count Rumford, who invented it around 1800) transferred cooking from the open fire to an enclosed oven (the round opening, lined with metal inside), which was heated by the small square firebox directly below. There are openings in the sides of the oven to control the temperature, and the entire device was vented through the central chimney. (for more info see https://streetsofsalem.com/2013/02/01/rumford-roasters/)

  • This provided a much faster and more efficient cooking experience. The Hall’s resident caterers, the Remonds, used this oven to prepare elaborate multi-course feasts for hundreds of guests.

Remond Room (also bride’s room)

  • John and Nancy Remond and some of their eight children lived in Hamilton Hall in the mid-19th century. We are not sure what the configuration of the first floor was at the time of their residency, but believe the fireplace in the Remond Room may have been the family’s personal stove and that the brick hearth would have been used for catering purposes. John and Nancy provided catering services and oversaw the building. 

  • John and Nancy and several of their children (below) were involved in the abolition movement, the suffrage movement, and advocated for desegregated schools.

  • The Remonds are the reason Hamilton Hall is a stop on the National Votes for Women Heritage Trail (marker out front on Chestnut St. side).

  • John Remond (1785-1874) traveled to the US from his home of Curacao in 1798. The young man traveled alone, carrying an “old fashioned round bottle of Schiedam gin” given to him by his mother (today in the collections of PEM). 

  • Nancy Remond (1786 -1867) born in Newton, MA, well-known pastry chef. Raised their eight children to fight for their rights and the rights of others. When Salem public schools barred Sarah and Caroline due to race, the family uprooted their lives for several years to find equal educational opportunities in Rhode Island (1835 - 1841). The women of the family belonged to the local, regional, and national Female Anti-Slavery Societies. It is no surprise that several of John and Nancy’s children followed in their activist footsteps.

  • Charles Lenox Remond (1810–1873) the best-known black abolitionist lecturer in the nation until Frederick Douglass made a name for himself. Charles was staunchly supportive of women’s right to join the fight (you’ll notice there were separate anti-slavery societies for women). In one example, he removed himself to the spectator’s gallery at the 1840 World Anti Slavery Convention in London in an act of solidarity with silenced female attendees who had been told they could not participate and had to sit separately from the men. Charles spoke throughout the US and abroad, sometimes with his sister Sarah. 

  • Sarah Parker Remond (1824-1894) was a stalwart member of the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society, the New England Anti-Slavery Society, and the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. She gave her first abolitionist address at the age of just 16 and spoke internationally on the topics of racial and gender equity. She addressed the crowd at the 1858 National Woman’s Rights Convention in New York, as did fellow luminaries William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Lucretia Mott. She studied nursing at University College London and then earned her medical degree (in her forties!) at Santa Maria Nuova Hospital School in Florence, Italy, where she married and worked as an obstetrician.

  • Caroline Remond Putnam (1826-1908) was repeatedly mentioned in the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, served in leadership positions for the American and Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Societies, and spoke at the 1869 annual meeting of the New England Woman’s Suffrage Association. She also earned a good living with her hair salon in Salem, and her coveted hair tonic, enabling her to travel frequently to Europe to visit Sarah.

The Ballroom 

  • The ballroom is notable for its palladian windows (typical of Federal-style architecture). A Palladian window has a central arched segment and two side segments. 

  • The ballroom has a “sprung” floor designed to absorb shock. This provides a bit of give, cushioning dancers’ feet. The floorboards you’re standing on are not original, but the supportive structure beneath them is.

  • The large gilded mirrors were imported from Russia and installed in 1805.

  • The ballroom is today used for weddings, large parties, and lectures 

The Lafayette Room 

  • The Marquis de Lafayette was a French aristocrat and military officer who was a key player in both the American and French Revolutions. 

  • In 1824, President James Monroe invited Lafayette to return to the United States and conduct what became known as Lafayette’s “farewell tour.” From 1824-5, Lafayette visited all 24 states in the Union, met by loving fans in each town and city like today’s most famous rockstar. Lafayette was given a dinner and ball at the Hall on August 31, 1824.

  • The Lafayette Trail is an effort spearheaded by the American Friends of Lafayette and the Consulate of France in Boston to memorialize the footsteps of General Lafayette during this tour. 

  • The lithograph of Lafayette above the fireplace was given to the Hall by the French embassy in 1949. 

The Supper Room 

  • Outside the doorway, you will find a sign with a list of original “subscribers” or shareholders in the building. This sign was made on the 300th anniversary of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1930. 

  • The third-floor Supper Room was traditionally used to serve food during large events. There is a dumb waiter in the closet for food to be transferred up from the kitchen below. Today, it is often by guests of weddings and balls to get a breath of air outside the busy ballroom.

  • The balcony is a “Musician’s Balcony.” It was lowered to allow for larger instruments. You can see breaks in the molding where the original balcony would have connected. 

 

Suggested Resources: For Hamilton Hall and its related history

Hamilton Hall’s website: https://www.hamiltonhall.org/educational-materials & hamiltonhall.org/banners & https://www.hamiltonhall.org/lectureseries

  • We’ve got general histories of the Hall and the Remonds directly on the website, as well as primary and secondary source documents that you can download. For example, you can download and read a paper delivered to the American Antiquarian Society in the 1980s that’s all about the Remonds.

  • The link for the banners takes you to a digitized version of the six banners we have describing the significance of the Remond family.

  • The third link gives a history of the Lecture Series on World Affairs.

Dr. Donna Seger’s blog: https://streetsofsalem.com/

  • You can search tons of topics by keyword, such as “Hamilton”

Salem Public Library’s Salem Links and Lore resources: https://salempl.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

  • This section has been put together by reference librarians

Salem State University Archives: https://libguides.salemstate.edu/home/archives/digitalcollections

  • The “Books and Pamphlets” section is fun

Historic Salem Inc.’s Historic House Database: https://www.historicsalem.org/househistory.html

  • This is fun to look at if you haven’t. You can look up every house in the city that has a white plaque on it and see its history and who lived there

The House of the Seven Gables Archives: https://7gables.org/collections-archives/

  • You can learn more about Nathaniel Hawthorne and the museum, and they also have links to sources about the settlement association and Salem’s immigrant history

Salem Maritime National Historic Site: https://www.nps.gov/sama/learn/education/education.htm

  • They have links to primary sources and other information about the history of the waterfront, which includes Black and immigrant history