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The North Shore & Merrimack Valley area has a wonderful variety of fine museums & galleries.

Massachusetts > North of Boston > Indoor Activities > Museums and Galleries
Salem Witch Museum with Roger Conant - Photo Credit North of Boston CVB
Salem Witch Museum

19 1/2 Washington Square North Salem, MA, 01970 Phone: 978-744-1692

Museum seeks to explain, understand the events that led to witch trials in 1692

Housed in an historic church building since its opening in 1972, the Salem Witch Museum has had a 50-year mission of educating visitors about the innocent individuals targeted during the town’s 1692 witch trials, as well as bringing awareness to the root cause of witch hunts and how they continue to affect society today. Through two immersive presentations, with dramatic lighting and life-size figures, visitors will experience the stories of the 20 individuals executed for witchcraft and the hysteria that led to the trials. Tickets must be purchased online, and parking is available in nearby garages. Plan about an hour for your visit. You might also visit the Salem Witch Trials Memorial on Liberty Street, next to the Old Burying Point Cemetery.
D-Day Exhibit - American Heritage Museum - Hudson, MA
American Heritage Museum

568 Main Street Hudson, MA, 01749 Phone: 978-562-9182

Interact with the nation’s heritage and military past at this stunning museum

The museum is now open! Wednesdays-Sundays from 10am-5pm. Advance ticketing is preferred - Please call or visit our website.

Explore America’s conflicts, from the Revolution to the War on Terror, at the immersive American Heritage Museum, where visitors walk through expertly detailed dioramas and exhibits that feature the vehicles and equipment to key to the nation’s fight to preserve freedom through the years. There’s a Ford Model T ambulance in the World War I trench exhibit, a Higgins Boat landing craft in the D-Day exhibit, a Sherman jumbo tank in the Battle of the Bulge diorama, a piece of the Berlin Wall in the exhibit marking the Cold War. The museum also hosts living-history events, including tank demonstration days and World War II re-enactments, and features a 9/11 video exhibit recounting the effort to intercept one of the hijacked planes.
Center of Revolution - Concord Museum - Concord, MA
Concord Museum

35 Cambridge Turnpike at Lexington Road Concord, MA, 01742 Phone: 978-369-9763

Exploring historic Concord? Begin at the Concord Museum!

For a small town, Concord has a big history. From the “shot heard round the world” to the writers of the American literary renaissance, things have happened here, words have been spoken here and books have been written here which changed the face of a nation. Over time, Concord has become a symbol of liberty and intellectual freedom. And nowhere is that important heritage captured more dramatically than at the Concord Museum. An inspiring collection of American treasures includes the 1775 “one, if by land, two, if by sea” Revere lantern, Thoreau’s Walden desk and Emerson’s Study. Linger in engaging history galleries, enjoy the beauty of Concord antiques, and create your own memories with family-friendly activities. Open daily year round.
Witch Dungeon Museum

16 Lynde Street Salem, MA, 01970 Phone: 978-741-3570

This museum features a tour of the dungeon where those accused of witchcraft were held. Reenactment of the trial is also part of the exhibits.
Hours: April-November, daily; last performance starts at 5 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $8; children age 4-13, $6; seniors over age 64, $7.
Custom House Maritime Museum

25 Water Street Newburyport, MA, 01950 Phone: 978-462-8681

Follow the history of maritime Massachusetts through the exhibits at this museum.
Hours: May 15 to December 21, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday & holiday Mondays, noon to 4 p.m.; January 1 to May 15, Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $7; seniors and students, $5
Hammond Castle Museum

80 Hesperus Avenue Gloucester, MA, 01930 Phone: 978-283-2080

John Hays Hammond, Jr. built his medieval-style castle between the years 1926 and 1929 to serve both as his home and as a backdrop for his collection of Roman, medieval, and Renaissance artifacts. Visitors to Hammond Castle Museum may explore the castle on a self-guided tour of eight rooms including the great hall, indoor courtyard, Renaissance dining room, two guest bedrooms, the inventions exhibit room, and the tower galleries. Visitors may also enjoy the beauty of the castle grounds and a view of the Atlantic shore line.
Hours: Open April-October; call ahead for hours.
Admission: Adults, $10; seniors over age 64, $9; children age 6-12, $8.
Salem Wax Museum and Salem Witch Village - Salem, MA
Salem Wax Museum and Salem Witch Village

288 Derby Street Salem, MA, 01970 Phone: 978-740-2929

This gallery-type museum has 50 wax figures in scenes that show Salem's history from its founding in 1626 through to the witch trials 1692 and into it period of global commerce in the 18th century. In the Interactive area, you can learn to tie knots like a sailor, create a gravestone rubbing, or feel what it’s like to be locked up in a life-size re-created jail cell. In October the entire street near the museum is transformed into The Haunted Neighborhood, featuring Frankenstein's Castle, Witching Hour spellcasting and ghostly tours!
Wenham Museum

132 Main Street Wenham, MA, 01984 Phone: 978-468-2377

Museum of social history from 175h century to present. Claflin-Richard House (c. 1690); world-renowned doll collection, dollhouse, costumers, model trains, toys. Conant photography collection, family discovery, and changing exhibits.
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; closed Mondays and major holidays ; Admission: Adults,$8; children ages 1- 18, $6.
National Heritage Museum

33 Marrett Road, Route 2A Lexington, MA, 02421 Phone: 781-861-6559

American history exhibits; films, shows, and concerts; permanent exhibit on freemasonry and the American Revolution. Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. ; Admission: free.
Bartlett Museum - Amesbury, MA
Bartlett Museum

270 Main Street Amesbury, MA, 01913 Phone: 978-388-4528

Museum features collections of horse-drawn carriages and Native American artifacts.
Hours: Open Friday-Sunday, 1-4pm from Memorial Day to Labor Day; other times by appointment. Admission is free.
Lowell Heritage State Park - Lowell, MA
Lowell Heritage State Park

160 Pawtucket Boulevard Lowell, MA, 01854 Phone: 978-458-8750

This state historical park describes the life and history of Lowell’s 19th-centry textile mills and the generations of immigrant workers that passed through their doors. The site includes a network of canals that furnished power to the textile mills along the water and a 2-mile esplanade along the Merrimack River.
Essex Shipbuilding Museum

66 Main Street Essex, MA Phone: 978-768-7541

The Essex Shipbuilding Museum tells the story of a New England village that built more two-masted wooden fishing schooners than any other place in the world. Visitors to the museum will see shipbuilding tools, photographs, exhibits about the shipbuilding industry, and the schooner Evelina M. Goulart. Guided and self-guided tours are offered. A gift shop offers ship plans, maritime books, T-shirts, toys, CDs, and maritime memorabilia.
Hours: Summer: June-October, Wednesdays- Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; after mid-October, open weekends, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: Guided Tour, $5-$10, depending on age; self-guided tour with Shipyard Map, $7.
Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, MA
Peabody Essex Museum

East India Square - 161 Essex Street Salem, MA, 01970 Phone: 978-745-9500

The Peabody Essex Museum collection presents works from the 1700s to today: paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, textiles, architecture and decorative objects, include African, American, Asian, maritime, Native American and Oceanic art. Many interesting changing exhibits. Wonderful gift shop. A large, light-filled atrium is a place to sit, eat lunch, watch a performance.
Admission: Adults $20, Seniors 65+ $18, Students with ID $12, Ages 16 & Under and Salem Residents Free.
Hours: Thurs-Sat-Sun 10am - 5pm, Friday 10am - 7pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day.
Whistler House Museum of Art

243 Worthen Street Lowell, MA, 01852 Phone: 978-452-7641

The birthplace of James Abbott McNeil Whistler. Exhibits of Whistler's and others' artwork.
Hours: Wednesday-Saturrfday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Admission: $5; seniors and students, $4.
Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy

180 Main Street Andover, MA, 01810 Phone: 508-759-4015

Paintings, prints, sculpture, decorative arts, and photography by American artists from Colonial times to the present. Works by John Singleton Copley, Paul Revere, James Whistler, Edward Hopper, Frank Stella, and Alexander Calder displayed on a rotating basis.
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 1-5 p.m.; closed August 1 through Labor Day. Admission is free.
New England Quilt Museum - Lowell, MA
New England Quilt Museum

18 Shattuck Street Lowell, MA, 01852 Phone: 978-452-4207

The New England Quilt Museum presents, interprets, and celebrates American quilting past and present.
Hours & Admission: Tuesday thru Saturday 10am - 4pm. General Admission is $9, Free under 12.