Wenham Historic District

Wenham () is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts. The population was 4,979 at the time of the 2020 census.The town of Wenham, originally settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1643, has retained much of its historic character and rural scenery. It is a town of many open views of farm lands, lakes, woodlands, historic homes and old stone walls that accompany its winding tree-lined roads. It features nearly 300 acres (120 ha) of parks, playgrounds and recreational lands.Wenham is closely tied to its neighboring town, Hamilton, sharing a school system, library, recreation department, commuter rail station and newspaper. In 2010, the community of Hamilton-Wenham was listed among the "Best Places to Live" by Boston magazine.

Wenham Lake is a 224-acre body of water located in Wenham and Beverly towns, Essex County, Massachusetts.The lake receives water from the water table and also from a system of streams. In the 19th century, the lake was an important source of ice for export, especially to Britain. Wenham Lake is now a reservoir for the Salem and the Beverly Water Supply Board.

The Larch Farm, also known as the Goldsmith-Pickering House, is a historic First Period farmhouse in Wenham, Massachusetts. The house is a large colonial 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house, eight bays wide. The northern half of the house is three bays deep, and the southern half is two deep. Its complicated construction history begins in 1700, when Zaccheus Goldsmith was given permission to take timber for the purpose of building a house 40 feet (12 m) wide and 20 feet (6.1 m) deep. This structure was two stories high, with a leanto section in the rear and a chimney on its right. An addition during the Georgian period removed that chimney and doubled the size of the house, and moved the front door to the north side. A wing was added on the south during the 1780s, and the exterior was remodeled later to give the house a Federal style appearance. The interior of the house includes surviving decorative features from all three periods of construction.The house is also notable for its purchase in 1806 by Timothy Pickering, a former United States Secretary of State. Pickering transformed the Goldsmith property into a rural country estate, planting linden and larch trees on the grounds. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

The Claflin–Richards House, also known as the Claflin–Gerrish–Richards House, is a historic First Period house located at 132 Main Street, Wenham, Massachusetts. It is now part of the nonprofit Wenham Museum and may be toured by appointment (regular tour hours are Tuesday–Friday at 11:00am and 2:00pm and Saturday & Sunday at 11:30am, 1:30pm and 2:30pm). The Claflin–Richards House was constructed circa 1690 with ogee braces, an architectural hallmark of 16th- and 17th-century English dwellings. Today it contains three centuries of architecture, furnishings, and artifacts, representing a First Period dwelling room, a late 17th-century minister's parlor, a circa 1750 bed chamber, and a Victorian-era chamber. Furnishings include a woolen bed-rug made in 1724, said to be the second oldest such rug in the United States, and an oak dresser built in 1752. It was purchased by the Wenham Historic Society in 1921.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and included in the Wenham Historic District in that year.

North Beverly station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Beverly, Massachusetts. Located in North Beverly, it serves the Newburyport/Rockport Line. The station has two low side platforms serving the line's two tracks, with mini-high platforms to provide accessibility. The station originally opened by the mid-1850s. The station building was converted to a hamburger stand by 1968, but later demolished. As of May 2021, improvements to the accessible mini-high platforms are in design.

Camp Lander was a former Massachusetts militia camp active during 1862 and located in Wenham, Massachusetts. It was named for Brigadier General Frederick W. Lander, wounded at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, who died of disease almost three weeks later in March 1862. In September–December 1862, the 5th, 8th, and 48th Massachusetts Infantry Regiments trained at the camp. The site is now occupied by Pingree Park, on land donated by Harriet Pingree in 1916.

The John Perkins House was a historic First Period house in Wenham, Massachusetts. The 2.5-story wood-frame house was built in stages, beginning c. 1710 with the right side and the chimney. This was followed by the left side and the rear leanto, which were probably added in the following decades. It is possible that the house was built with a single story porch, which would have been a quite rare feature.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The home was demolished on May 13, 2011. In 2018, the property was sold and developed into a single-family dwelling.

The James Friend House is a historic First Period house in Wenham, Massachusetts, United States. It was built by James Friend, a local carpenter, probably not long after he received a grant in 1699 to cut timber on public land. The house is a 2.5-story wood-frame house with a center chimney. Its main facade is a slightly asymmetrical five bays wide, even though it was apparently originally built to that plan rather than in stages. A lean-to was added to the back of the house sometime before 1738, giving the house a saltbox appearance. This section was raised to a full two stories in the 19th century, and the roof was rebuilt. In the early 20th century, the house was moved back from the road and covered in stucco.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Hamilton/Wenham station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Hamilton and Wenham, Massachusetts. It serves the Newburyport Branch of the Newburyport/Rockport Line. It is located just south of the intersection of Bay Road (MA Route 1A) and Walnut Road, and straddles the Hamilton–Wenham town line, with the southern end of the platform geographically in Wenham.

Massachusetts's 6th congressional district is located in northeastern Massachusetts. It contains most of Essex County, including the North Shore and Cape Ann, as well as part of Middlesex County. It is represented by Seth Moulton, who has represented the district since January 2015. The shape of the district went through minor changes effective from the elections of 2012 after Massachusetts congressional redistricting to reflect the 2010 census. The towns of Tewksbury and Billerica were added, along with a small portion of the town of Andover.

The Peter Woodbury House (or Woodberry) is a historic First Period house in Beverly, Massachusetts. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a side-gable roof, large central chimney, and clapboard siding. Like most surviving First Period houses, this one was built in stages. The earliest part, dating to c. 1696, was the right front section and chimney. The left side was built in the 18th century, as was the rear leanto, which was later raised to a full second story.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

The Community House at 284 Bay Road in Hamilton, Massachusetts is a historic social and civic community building serving the towns of Hamilton and Wenham. The Colonial Revival brick building was built in 1921 to a design by noted Boston architect Guy Lowell, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.Construction of the building was made possible through the efforts and generosity of George Snell Mandell and Emily Mandell, Hamilton residents and publishers of the Boston Transcript. The Mandells and a group of Hamilton residents worked with Community Service, Inc., a national non-profit that worked to improve recreational facilities. The Mandells purchased the land, in what was then a residential area outside the Hamilton-Wenham business district, and gave it to Hamilton House, Inc., founded to hold title to the property in perpetuity.The two story building houses an auditorium, sitting room, library, and kitchen on its first floor, and meeting rooms on the second. The basement originally held bowling lanes, a game room, and a men's lounge. Community Service of Wenham and Hamilton, Inc., which manages the building, has over the years offered a wide variety of social, recreational, and educational programs in the facility, and made it available to other community groups as meeting and function space.The most significant changes to the building have affected the lower level. As bowling rose in popularity, additional lanes were added in a 1934 addition, and also in an adjoining building; the original lanes were converted to a shooting range for law enforcement. With the waning of bowling's popularity, the adjoining building was leased out and eventually sold after being converted to medical offices, and the 1934 addition was converted to meeting space.