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17 Central Street
History
(from Architecture in Salem, by Bryant F. Tolles, Jr.)
Designed
by local architect John M Gray (1887-1977) and built in 1913, the
Salem Police Station is a good example of the Colonial Revival style
in public building design. Numerous elements in this symmetrical,
rectangular, brick-and-stone-trim structure are inspired by Salem's
magnificent Georgian Colonial and Federal architectural heritage.
These include modillioned cornices, brick corner quoins, tall round-arched
windows with keystones, splayed window lintels, a broad belt course,
and matching front entrances with semicircular fanlights, doric pilasters,
and flat canopies supported by ornate baroque console brackets. A
wooden balustrade that formerly encircled the flat roof was removed
some years ago. The building has traditionally accommodated the city
marshall, the police department, and until 1977, the First District
Court of Essex County before it was removed to a new building (see
C-34) on the corner of Washington and Church Streets.
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