Built ca. 1648 Opened 1648 Added to NRHP 30 April 1976 | NRHP Reference # 76000235 Area 2 ha | |
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Address 431 Maple St, Danvers, MA 01923, USA Similar Danvers Historical Society, Judge Samuel Holten H, Derby Summer House, Rebecca Nurse Homestead, Parson Capen House | ||
The General Israel Putnam House in Danvers, Massachusetts, United States, is a historic First Period house recorded in the National Register of Historic Places. The house is also sometimes known as the Thomas Putnam House after Lt. Thomas Putnam (1615-1686), who built the home circa 1648. His grandson, Israel Putnam, the famous general of the American Revolution, was born in the house. Lt. Thomas Putnam was the father of Sgt. Thomas Putnam Jr., (Israel's half-uncle), a notorious figure in the Salem witch trials. The Putnam House is now operated by the Danvers Historical Society and open by appointment.
Description
The house was built on 100 acres (40 ha) of farmland owned by Lt. Thomas Putnam, and occupied by the Putnam family for over three centuries. In 1692, Joseph Putnam, the resident of the house at that time, spoke out against the hysteria of the Salem witch trials. His son, Major General Israel Putnam, commander of the colonial troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill, was born in the house on January 7, 1718. In 1991 the Putnam family descendants gave the property to the Danvers Historical Society.
The original house has been augmented by repeated additions. Today, it consists of an irregular 2½ story frame structure, with clapboards and with a pitch roof over one part of the house and gambrel roof over another. It is located at 431 Maple Street, behind Putnam Pantry, a candy and ice cream shop opened by the family on U.S. Route 1.