Salem Maritime National Historic Site - Guided Tours (U.S. National Park Service)

NPS photo

The 1675 Narbonne House, one of the historic homes at Salem Maritime.

Guided tours of Salem Maritime National Historic Site are offered seven days a week. The tour times and content, however, vary according to the season.

All tours are guided by National Park Service Rangers, and last approximately one hour.

Click here for tour fees

Through June 30, 2008

(Note: Tour times may be subject to change.
Please call 978-740-1660 to confirm tour times.)

Every Day:

Tour Time	Tour	Limit	Duration
10:00 AM	Derby House and Narbonne House	8 people	1 hour
11:15 AM	Custom House and Friendship Tour	20 people	1 hour
1:30 PM	Derby House and Narbonne House	8 people	1 hour
2:45 PM	Custom House and Friendship Tour	20 people	1 hour

Note:

On June 7, 2008 the Narbonne House will be open from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM free of charge as part of the Essex County 17th Century Saturdays events.

The replica tall ship Friendship will be leaving Salem from June 22 to June 27 for a trip to Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

Guided Tour Descriptions:

The Custom House
Limit: 20 people
Duration: ½ hour

This tour visits the U.S. Custom House, built in 1819 to house the offices of the U.S. Customs Service. During the height of Salem’s East Indies trade, the Customs Service in Salem collected millions of dollars of taxes on incoming cargo, providing vital financial support for the new United States government. For three years, this building was the workplace of the famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne’s experiences during his stint in the Custom House inspired his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter.

The Custom House and Friendship
Limit: 20 people
Duration: 1 hour

Weather permitting, during the fall, winter, and spring the Custom House tour also visits Friendship of Salem, Salem Maritime's replica of a cargo vessel built in Salem in 1797. The tour visits the main deck and 'tween deck of the vessel to learn about the men who sailed all over the world to bring exotic goods back to Salem during the height of the East Indies trade.

The Narbonne and Derby Houses
Limit: 8 people
Duration: 1 hour

This tour visits the two domestic homes at Salem Maritime. The Narbonne House, built in 1675, was for almost 300 years the home of successful businessmen and their families. The Narbonne House is unfurnished, and contains displays of some of the nearly 150,000 archeological artifacts that were excavated out of the yard. The 1762 Derby House was the first home of Elias Hasket and Elizabeth Crowninshield Derby. It is a beautiful example of a merchant’s Georgian home, and is furnished to reflect the Derbys’ 20 year-long residence in the house.