Twilight Tours of the Homestead this October

These special guided tours will be the ONLY guided tours available this October, with a maximum capacity of 10 people. The tour length will be roughly 60-75 minutes.

The tour begins at sunset (around 5:15pm) with a short (300 yard) walk along the tree lined path to the back of the property, to the ancient Nurse Family Cemetery.

At the next stop your guide will tell you about the history of Rebecca’s home, and her family and then allow each party to pass through the candlelit home. Due to COVID regulations when walking through the Nurse House itself only members of the same family will be allowed to walk through together.

The final stop on the tour is the Meetinghouse. This building is an exact replica of the 1672 Salem Village Meetinghouse where many of the early hearings of suspects such as Tituba & Rebecca Nurse took place.

These tours will be offered on October 23rd, 24th, 30th and 31st ONLY. The tour will begin at sunset (5:15pm) and conclude at Twilight. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets

Please plan extra travel time as added traffic in October could delay arrival, also prepare for any kind of weather, temperatures can be unpredictable in October.

Please read our COVID guidelines for visitation HERE before purchasing tickets.

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October 2020 Hours & Information

This OCTOBER we will be open Saturdays & Sundays from 10:00am-3:00pm

To ensure proper capacity regulations on site, we are pre-selling timed entry slots every 30 minutes. See link below to purchase tickets. When purchasing tickets make sure to choose the correct time slot. You are welcome to spend more than 30 minutes on site, the timed entry tickets are so that we can try to reduce lines and long wait times, during this busy season.

Please plan extra travel time as added traffic in October could delay your arrival. If you are late, or miss your timed entry we will do our best to move you to an open time slot IF there is availability, but given the new state capacity guidelines, and the busy nature of October there is no guarantee. We may also have some tickets available for purchase at the door, but please call ahead before you head over to check for available time slots. (978)774-8799

CLICK HERE to read our COVID guidelines for visitation before purchasing tickets.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

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Trails & Sails 2020: En Plain Air Painting

Do you love to paint? Grab your easel and paints and join us on September 19, 2020 at 10 AM – 3 PM for a day of En Plein Air Painting. You will have your choice of outdoor setting on our sprawling 25 acre homestead. Will you choose a view of the iconic salt box home, colonial kitchen garden, or the rustic zig-zag fence? Choice of location is first come first served and must adhere to social distancing. (WE REQUIRE THAT PARTICIPANTS WEAR A MASK THE ENTIRE TIME THEY ARE ON SITE IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE LAWS)

This event is FREE and offered in conjunction with Essex Heritage for Trails and Sails.

This event will be limited to 10 artists, and pre-registration is required. CLICK HERE to register. (If you sign up and then cannot attend please contact us so that we can open the spot for another artist)

Arrival time can be anytime after 10am and all participants must leave the grounds by museum closing at 3pm.

PLEASE NOTE: MATERIALS ARE NOT PROVIDED – PLEASE BRING ALL YOUR OWN PAINT SUPPLIES. WE ONLY HAVE PORTABLE RESTROOMS, NO RUNNING WATER, OR SINKS TO WASH BRUSHES.

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Open hours for 2020

We will finally be opening to the public starting August 1st (Please note that our open hours will be limited and are subject to change, we will post on our Facebook and website with any last minute changes to our schedule). Due to the new Massachusetts regulations on visiting historic structures we will be instituting some new rules and guidelines (see below). If you are traveling from outside of Massachusetts please read the new COVID-19 Travel Order. MA Travel Advisory.

We will only be open on Saturdays from 10am-3pm. (last admission tickets sold at 2:30pm so please plan accordingly) We may open for more hours in October, please check back for updated hours closer to October.

VISITATION GUIDELINES 

  1. In adherence with state law and to protect the safety of visitors and staff, face coverings that cover the nose and mouth are required at all times while on site, the only exceptions include children under the age of 2 and those unable to wear a mask or face covering due to a medical condition. (A face covering can include anything that covers BOTH your nose and mouth; homemade cloth masks, neck gaiters, and bandanas. According to Massachusetts regulations plastic face shields (without a mask), or masks with vents/valves are NOT acceptable face coverings.
  2. Each visitor/family will be asked to sign a waiver with their name and phone number or email address as a safety measure. Should an outbreak occur and we can notify those who were here on that day. (This information will not be sold or shared publicly)
  3. Due to the limited space and capacity (which prohibit social distancing) we will not be conducting guided tours of the buildings. Instead we will have the historic buildings open for a self-guided walk-thru. Our knowledgeable staff will still be available to talk with visitors about the history of the site and answer any questions.  Educational materials will be available.
  4. We will be limiting the capacity of each building as follows:
    •  The Nurse House will be allowing 1 visitor to walk through at a time. (If you are from the same household you will be able to walk through together)
    • The replica Meetinghouse will be allowed up to 20 visitors at a time as long as social distancing rules (6ft. spacing between groups) are being followed.
    • The Endicott Barn/ Gift Shop will be allowed 2 visitors at a time. 
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Important Update to Museum Hours

UPDATE: Due to the phased opening plan laid out by Governor Baker we will not be allowed to open until PHASE 3, which means we will remain closed to the public through June 2020. We are working on a plan of re-opening that will keep our volunteers, and our visitors as safe as possible. Thank you for your patience, and support during these uncertain times.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced at the end of April that the state’s stay-at-home advisory had been extended through Monday, May 18. This means that we will not be able to open on weekends in May like we previously planned and that our May 16th reenactment is cancelled. We will remain closed to the public through May and will wait to make a decision about June until more information becomes available to us.

We also want to remind locals, and those who have been showing up to walk around, that we do not allow people to visit ANY part of our site when we are closed, this includes people who have previously used our site as a cut through to the Danvers Rail Trail or Collins Street. Thank you for understanding, and we hope that everyone is staying healthy and safe during this uncertain time. We hope to be open as soon as it is safe to do so.

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Spring/Summer Newsletter

We had planned to send out our Spring/Summer Newsletter a couple weeks ago but due to the shutdown of non essential businesses regarding COVID-19, we have decided to upload the Newsletter here, instead of mailing it out to our membership. If you are not a member please consider joining, as one of the membership perks is our newsletter, along with free admission to the Museum, and all of our special events. Click here to join!

Please note that since we are unsure of the length of time that Massachusetts will be on advisory, we are still planning on going forward with all planned events until further notice. Please follow us on Facebook as well to keep up to date on all of our upcoming events, and any changes the the schedule.

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CANCELLED: Revolutionary War Event: Spring Tactical at the Nurse Homestead

The Danvers Alarm List Company and His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of foot are working  together to host a “Spring tactical at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead” on May 16th. This day long event will have three tactical demonstrations put on by reenacting organizations from all over New England. There will be colonial life demonstrations in the house, performance by the 4-H Fife & Drum Core, and a couple lectures. Alex Cain, owner the “Historical Nerdery” Facebook page/blog and “Untapped History Tours” will be doing a lecture called “Heads of Families and Men of Substance: the Rise of the Minute Men in the Merrimack Valley, Essex County Massachusetts” and the second lecture will be by Russ Davis, and will focus on he role of Pioneers in the British Army, and what soldiers were required to carry.

This event will be open to the public, May 16th from 10:00am-4:00pm. Due to COVID-19 , this event has been cancelled

Admission:
Adults: $9.00
Seniors: $7.00
Children (6-16) $6.00

Schedule:
10:00–Site Opens
10:30-11:15–1st Tactical Demonstration
11:30-12:00–Lecture by Alex Cain
12:15-1:00–2nd Tactical Demonstration
1:00-1:30–Lecture by Russ Davis
1:30-2:15–Nooning
2:30-3:00–Performance by 4H Fife and Drum
3:00-3:45–3rd Tactical Demonstration
4:00–Site Closes

Between 1:30-2:15 no activities are planned while the reenactors take a lunch break “Nooning”. Feel free to wander through the house, or talk to the reenactors around the site during this time.

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Giving Tuesday!

This #GivingTuesday we are raising money for Danvers Alarm List Company Inc the owners and operators of the Rebecca Nurse Homestead. Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. And on GivingTuesday Dec 3, Facebook will match a total of $7 million in donations first come, first served. Thank you for your support!

The Rebecca Nurse Homestead is a private non-profit house museum owned by the Danvers Alarm List Coy. It is an entirely volunteer group of 18th century living history reenactors that portray the militia, minute and alarm companies of Danvers and surrounding communities, as they existed in the 1774-1775 timeframe. The Alarm List Coy. presents its impression to the public through demonstrations, exhibitions, parades, living history encampments and battle reenactments.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR GIVING TUESDAY CAMPAIGN


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End of Season

Just a reminder for our visitors, our last days that we will be open this season will be November 23rd & 24th from 10:00am-3:00pm

We would like to extend a big THANK YOU to the many people who helped support the Nurse Homestead in so many ways over the course of this year! As we prepare the property for the upcoming winter weather we please ask potential visitors and locals to keep a few things in mind…

For the safety of you as a visitor, and and the safeguard of our historic property, we do not allow visitation of any part of the property while we are closed for the season (this includes locals who have previously used the property as a walking trail or shortcut to Collins Street or the Rail Trail), and ask that you be respectful of this. We will be unable to honor any visitor requests from December-February and will welcome special visitor requests again starting in March (weather permitting and upon volunteer availability). Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding, of the limited resources of our volunteer run site.

Check back with us in the Spring for all of our exciting 2020 EVENTS!

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Closed October 18th

Due to lack of electricity, and some damage from the recent storm we will be closed tomorrow while we try to clean up downed trees and branches that have fallen all around the property. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope to reopen on Saturday October 19th. Please check back on our Facebook or here for more information.

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