Page 8 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUly 14, 2023 Historic Saugus Visitors get to tour the 331-year-old Boardman House By Laura Eisener S unday afternoon Historic New England hosted a community day at the Boardman House on Howard Street, with tours and lectures as well as some show-and-tell from the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site and the Saugus Historical Society. Members of the community came out to hear more about this fascinating 17th-century house. It is in remarkably good condition for 331 years old! This house was built in 1692 for William Boardman III and his family. The household also included an enslaved person named Mark. While William Boardman himself only lived a few more years after moving here, his descendants lived in the home until 1911. In 1914 the preservationist William Sumner Appleton acquired it for the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), now known as Historic New England. SPNEA, founded in 1910, is the oldest and largest historic preservation organization in the United States, and focuses on preservation of properties in the New England states. For several decades the house was believed to have been the residence of Scottish prisoners who were indentured to work at the Saugus Iron Works, and the house was often called the “Scotch” house, but it is now believed that the prisoners lived elsewhere on the then-extensive property, possibly near where Village Park Plaza stands today. The house has some amazing fireHistoric New England’s North Shore Regional Site Administrator, Abigail Stewart (left), shakes hands with Park Rangers Carolyn Crompton and Alyssa Harthorne of the National Park Service. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) places and shows interesting aspects of colonial construction methods. On Sunday, two guided tours offered visitors a view of the house interior from basement to attic. Lectures were offered on topics ranging from slavery in Colonial New England by Erika Slocumb, Boardman House Preservation by Christina Pokwatka and the recent reconstruction of the two-seater outhouse by its restorer, Dave Maloney. The outhouse itself was also open for viewing. There were also children’s games on the back lawn and bubbles available. Abigail Stewart, who organized the event, also arranged for Gavin Gardner from Saugus Iron Works to be on hand to answer questions about the Scottish indentured workers at the Iron Works, and for The Boardman House was flying its “Open” flag (windows propped open because of humidity that day) on Saturday afternoon. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) Jack Klecker and Laura Eisener from the Saugus Historical Society to answer questions about general Saugus HistoSaugus Historical Society member Jack Klecker shows his work-in-progress model of the Boardman House. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) ry. Jack is building a model of the Boardman House, which he brought with him to show Abigail the work in progress. Many visitors came from the surrounding area, Saugus and beyond, to see the house interior and to participate in the afternoon events. Pictured from left to right: Saugus Historical Society member Jack Klecker and Chief of Resources Gavin Gardner of the Salem Maritime and Saugus Iron Works National Historic Sites chatted with visitors about the town’s historic sites. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) The lecture about the restoration of the two-hole privy by Dave Maloney attracted great interest. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener)
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