Salem 1630: Pioneer Village, or simply Pioneer Village, is the living history museum you have reached, a recreation of the city of Salem in the 17th century. Opened in June 1930 as the first museum of its kind in the United States, it was created so visitors could experience the lives of early English settlers rather than merely read about them. Stroll mentally through scenes arranged to show a blacksmith's shop, a sawmill, a saltworks, gardens, fireplaces, a dugout, a wigwam, and thatched-roof cottages.
The featured attraction when the village opened was the Governor's House, a "fayre house" built as a replica based on how the house might have looked after being disassembled in Cape Ann, brought over to Salem, and rebuilt for Governor John Endicott in 1628; dimensional details for that replica were worked out by George Francis Dow. The village was conceived by architect Joseph Everett Chandler and George Francis Dow as a way to demonstrate life in 1630, and they engaged other experts and architects before the Tercentenary celebrations. Today Pioneer Village is operated by the City of Salem's Witch House, a 17th-century home once owned by witchcraft trials judge Jonathan Corwin.
Notice the gardens, the thatched roofs, the sawmill, and the Governor's House replica scattered across the village.