The architecture on the Single Men's Home (bottom two photos, brick and wood inlay) is stunning. Village boys lived in the home from age 14 onward, learning a trade and becoming self-sufficient. Those who did not marry (marriages were approved by the church and not one's parents) spent their entire lives in the home. There was also a Single Woman's Home, but it was not open to the public.
Fire buckets in the village tavern. Then-president George Washington spent the night here. We ate some chicken pot pie in the tavern-restaurant next door.
After a long, exciting day at Salem Village, we headed downtown to the Arts Center for the Press 53 Awards ceremony and five-year anniversary party. It's pretty amazing how many titles Press 53 has published in a mere five years. And it's great that there's a press that gets literary authors. Press 53's specialty is short stoy collections, a rarity today. Here I am with Kevin Morgan Watson, Press 53 guru, receiving an award for my first-place entry in novella, MAY-SEPTEMBER.
Press 53 Award winners and some current Press 53 authors: