Times change, and people change; and if our hearts do not as readily, so much the worse for us.
– Nathaniel Hawthorne

We want to thank everyone for bearing with us in our first week of opening our gardens and grounds to you! Things have certainly not been business as usual as we have worked with guidelines to safely open our historic site while working with state and local guidelines.

After a review of the updated Phase II guidelines from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, advanced reservations are NOT currently required to visit our gardens. We want to thank the Division of Labor Standards for their prompt and courteous support with this question.

The new-new visitor experience will now look like this:

• Enter our site through the garden gate on Turner Street.
• Follow our posted rules included wearing face coverings and maintaining social distance.
• Limit your household group to six people.
• Sanitize your hands on entry and exit.
• One-way traffic through the site can be accomplished with our fabulous audio tour. Stop one is at the head of the gardens. You’ll see a sign for downloading your instructions.
• There is a donation station at the exit. You can donate cash, use our DipJar for a credit card payment, or scan the QR code to donate online. Your donations are crucial for us to keep our doors open this season.
• There is no interior access to any of our buildings at this time.

As summer rolls on and things get healthier and busier, this process will likely revert back to advance ticket purchases to help us manage capacity on site and comply with state and local guidelines. In our first week, capacity hasn’t been an issue – making now the perfect time to plan a day in Salem. Support local history, retail, and restaurants with a wonderful day-cation!