Mobile Command Vehicle

It seemed like a rather tame Halloween with an estimated 100,000 people coming in to town.  More were expected due to the great weather and the holiday falling on a Friday.  Perhaps all the hype of a massive crush into Salem kept some revelers away or maybe it was the large number of private parties held around town that kept people off the street.  People seemed to have a fun time but there were less people in costume than previous years and of those costumed many less slutty naughty costumes were seen (much to our dismay).

Here are a few photos we took, more are available on our flickr page.  If you have some photos you’d like to share drop us a link or post one in the comments.

Good Witch

Misfits

Vampre with Baby

Princess Leia loves PRB

The following images are presented in the order received. Once you view the images please use the poll to the right of this post to pick your favorite (voting ends on Wednesday).

I probably should have mentioned this before but you may vote only once and any duplicate votes will result in all of your votes being thrown out.

Howard Street Graveyard Buttercups by Daryl B.

Howard Street Graveyard Seeds by Daryl B.

Tattoo Guns by Forrest F.

Painting at Witch City Ink by Forrest F.

Old Town Hall by Jeff W.

four kids on the bypass road appear to be headed for the train by David M.

Beat(en) LA, on Bridge St. by David M.

YARR!! by Rippin K.

A dogs view of Salem Common by Robin R.

Untitled 1 by Alex E.

Untitled 2 by Alex E.

Untitled 3 by Jennifer N.

Untitled 4 by Jennifer N.

Thankfully the weather was spectacular so I sat under a tree watching the joggers circle around the park and took in life so early on a Sunday morning. A total of six classic cars showed up and of them the only Cadillacs were a 1932 La Salle and the above pictured ’55 Fleetwood.

Even though the showing was poor, I still shot a ton of photos (it’s one of my things), which got me  thinking. I often go to shows, see exhibits, or find fun things in Salem to photograph but only a fraction of those images ever make it in this blog. So… I decided to fire up a flickr page. I’ll work get a decent selection of photos in there over the next week or so for your Salem photo fix.

This sculpture in front of the PEM was by far the best

due to the weather many sculputures like this one in front of New Civilitea met an untimely demise

We photographed all the sculptures and will get them up on our flickr page shortly.

What the heck is Baker’s Island?

Most people are familiar with Salem’s 8.1 square miles of land but know nothing about our 10 miles of water or what exists out there. Salem maritime properties include Children’s Island, Ram Island, Cunney Island, Tinkers Island, Great Misery Island, Little Misery Island and Baker’s Island. While some of them have summer homes none are inhabited year round.

The 60 acre Baker’s Island lies 3.5 miles off shore. In addition to its one light house (visible from the Salem Willows) the island is home to 55 cottages most built in the late 1800′s to early 1900′s. The island also has a store, fire house, meeting hall (Sherman C. Burnham Hall), and gift shop known as Driftwood. Baker’s Island it’s Massachusetts’ largest residential island north of Boston.

History of Baker’s Island

During the golden age of sail, Salem was the wealthiest city in the States all because of her port but there were no major aids to navigation to help mariners past the islands and rocks outside her harbor. A conical day beacon erected in 1791 was 57 feet tall, painted red, and topped by a two-foot diameter black ball. Unfortunately this beacon was not much help at night or in the fog and after three wrecks in 1796 killing 16 men the Salem Marine Society sent a message to Congress stating they needed to replace the beacon with a lighthouse.

That much of the property and many of the lives of their fellow citizens are almost every year lost in coming into the harbour of Salem for want of proper lights to direct their course… This calamity can, in the opinion of this society be prevented only by erecting a lighthouse on the northern end of Bakers Island . . .

Congress authorized $6,000 for the establishment of twin lights on Baker’s Island which first lit up on January 3, 1798. The two towers were located on top of a two-story keeper’s house, about 40 feet apart at either end of the building with four lamps being fueled by whale oil. In the early part of the 1800′s there were some configuration changes to the light houses, one was shortened then later restored to its previous height after some confusion with Boston light. In 1926 one of the lights was removed and by 1938 the sole remaining light was electrified.

Baker's Island Light c. 1929

In addition to the light house (set on 10 acres) the remainder of the island was privately owned. In 1888 a homeopathic doctor from Salem named Nathan Morse built a hotel/spa on Baker’s Island called the Winne-Egan. It had 50 guest rooms and catered to seekers of “health, pleasure and needed rest.” In addition to island activities such as sailing, fishing and swimming, guests could play tennis, or even shoot a short round of golf on the hotel’s six-hole course. Like many of Salem’s old buildings the hotel met its demise in 1906 when an accidental fire burned it to the ground.

Baker’s Island real estate; old money, private sales and coastal views.

There is not an abundance of information available about properties on Baker’s Island. No rentals what-so-ever and according to my real estate agent “There hasn’t been a public sale (in MLS) of anything on the island since 1999 – all private sales, and at that only a few”. I examined Salem’s GIS (Geographical Information System) viewer and found most parcels of land have been owned by family’s since before 1900.

Homes on Baker’s Island

Today access to the island is limited to residents and their guests. The islands one pier is where all visitors arrive and depart. Many residents have their own boats but a water shuttle the Double Eagle, is available from Salem harbor.

a view from the pier at sunset

Final thought

I am still looking for my summer retreat. Many Salem residents visit this site, so if you have a place out on Baker’s Island contact me, I would love to learn more about what is in our own back yard. And for all my out of town readers, if I get the opportunity to go over there, walk around and shoot some photos, you can be sure to find them right here at theSalemInsider.com.

The police had sectioned off all of the down town area from Derby St. to the Common down to the train station and over to the post office. All available space was being used with bands and DJs set up on Hawthorne Blvd., Derby St., and Washington St., and a food court set up in the Common.

People were all decked out in their finest costumes. All the traditional Dracula, werewolf, Frankenstein, and mummy’s made an appearance. But the overwhelming costumes for women, or should I say girls was the slutty “fill in the blank” of note were, cop, witch, nurse, pirate, umpire, vampire, fireman, candy corn, devil, wonder woman, cat woman, rainbow bright, gangster, prison inmate, and last but not least slutty nun. The adult entertainment industry can rest assured that the next generation of performers is ready and willing to step up.

Not to be left out of the fun, a cadre of fundamentalist Christians were patrolling the streets with giant signs and bullhorns. I think their warnings of eternal damnation fell on deaf ears. Satan showed up and gathered quite a crowd when he was hanging out with the God squad.

Shortly after 10pm the fireworks started up on the water adjacent to the commuter rail station. It was a half hearted attempt at topping off the night, unfortunately they seemed to drag on uneventfully for a half hour. When the fireworks had wrapped up the police had sectioned off the area and started pushing people out of town, beginning with the pedestrian mall. By midnight Salem once again was returned to its former self, with all the vendors and tourists just a memory.

This morning it seemed almost sad.