Gallows Hill Painters — Proctor, Hanson, Almeda & Nichols Streets

In the 17th century Gallows Hill was common land just outside Salem’s boundary. Historian Sidney Perley identified a rocky outcrop at its base, Proctor’s Ledge, as the hanging site, and a University of Virginia team confirmed his finding in 2016. A memorial was dedicated there on July 19, 2017, 325 years to the day after five women were hanged at the ledge. Landscape architect Martha Lyon developed the design through public meetings with nearby residents, and WBUR described the setting as a residential area a block from a Walgreens.

We found little published about the houses themselves and could not locate a state inventory area form for the neighborhood, so this page relies on census data rather than a house-by-house history.

Census Tract 2047.02 includes Proctor, Hanson, Almeda and Nichols Streets. It also stretches west into Witchcraft Heights, so the numbers describe a larger area than the hill alone. Of its 2,587 homes, 36.3% were built in 1939 or earlier and 14.3% in 2000 or later. Two-, three- and four-unit buildings account for 28.5% of units, and another 19.9% are in buildings of five to 49 units. About three-quarters of the tract’s units (1,991 of 2,587) were built before 1980.

Prewar paint layers

More than a third of homes in the tract predate 1940, which means they were first painted decades before 1978, the year lead paint was banned for residential use nationwide. Scraping and sanding on those houses follow lead-safe practices, with plastic sheeting under the work area and a full cleanup at the end.

No district color review, but paint-removal rules

Gallows Hill is not one of Salem’s four named local historic districts (McIntire, Derby Street, Lafayette Street and Washington Square), so colors are the owner’s choice; the city’s district maps confirm any single parcel. The Historical Commission’s guidelines also cite Health Regulation #23, a Board of Health rule requiring a permit before paint removal and barring exterior electric sanding. Ask the Health Department whether it covers your job before scraping starts.

Multi-family exteriors

Nearly three in ten units sit in two- to four-family buildings. Painting one of those means scheduling around every unit's windows, porches and entries, and getting sign-off from each owner when the building is a condo.

Prewar and mid-century houses side by side

The tract’s median year built is 1962, and 22.3% of its units went up in the 1960s, next to the 36.3% that predate 1940. A prewar house and a 1960s house on the next street need separate prep plans, but both were built before 1978, so testing old coatings for lead belongs in either estimate.