Visiting the Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester, Massachusetts
The Hammond Castle Museum is a unique structure located on the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The building was constructed between the years 1926 to 1929, by inventor John Hays Hammond, Jr. to serve as his residence. Its architectural style is that of a medieval castle, with elements inspired from French, Norman, and English castles.
About John Hays Hammond, JR.
John Hays Hammond, Jr. was born in San Francisco, California. His family moved to South Africa in 1893, as John's father was active as a mining engineer for Cecil Rhodes' mines in South Africa. In 1898, the family moved to England, where the young John Hays Hammond, Jr. fell in love with castles and life in earlier times. The family returned to the United States at the turn of the 20th century.
John Hays Hammond, Jr. showed an early affinity toward science and invention. When John Hays Hammond Jr. was twelve years hold, his father took him along on a business trip to visit Thomas Edison’s famous laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison took a personal interest in the boy and gave him an extended tour of the facility in response to the many questions he was asking. John Hays Hammond, Jr. came under the wing of Thomas Edison and Thomas Edison served as John's mentor in his early years. The two men stayed in contact their entire lives.
Over the course of his life, John Hays Hammond, Jr. was awarded over 800 patents (in comparison to about 1,200 patents that the much more well-known Thomas Edison held) for over 400 of his inventions. Many of these inventions were in radio control, electronics, naval weapons, and national defense.
Hammond Castle Museum
As far as Hammond Castle itself, the Hammond Castle Museum website explains its origin:
The Hammond Castle was both John Hays Hammond Jr.'s personal residence (and that of his wife, the former Irene Fenton Reynolds of Gloucester, MA) and the headquarters of his commercial enterprise, the Hammond Research Corporation. The residence was ultimately transformed into a museum open to the public, because, sadly, John Hays Hammond Jr. and his wife had no heirs.
Photos from my visit to this excellent museum are below.
Exterior Views of the Hammond Castle
Interior Views of the Hammond Castle
Trivia
- John Hays Hammond, Jr. was a strong believer in the paranormal and even promised that after his death he would return to this realm as a black cat. Claims include disembodied voices, moving objects, uneasy feelings and full-bodied apparitions. The Hammond Castle was on one episode of a SyFy series called Paranormal Pioneers.
- John Hays Hammond, Jr. used his radio control technology combined with gyroscopic stabilization to send a pilotless “ghost ship” around the Gloucester harbor, and then remotely controlled a yacht that sailed from Gloucester to Boston and then back again.
If You Go
The Hammond Castle Museum is open to the public primarily during the summer months. The summer season typically begins on Saturdays and Sundays in May, from 10 AM to 4 PM, with the last tickets sold at 3:30 PM. Beginning in June and extending through October 6th, Hammond Castle is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 AM to 4 PM, also with the last ticket sold at 3:30. The Hammond Castle is closed on Mondays and all U.S. public holidays.
Pro tip #1: After you purchase the ticket(s) to the museum, make sure to allocate ten to twelve minutes of your time to watch the film about John Hays Hammond, Jr. and the Hammond Castle, located in the back of the gift shop. While the film is of average quality, it reveals many things about the castle which you would not ordinarily notice while walking around it. As a bonus, you'll learn about numerous pranks that John Hays Hammond, Jr. conducted (primarily directed at his guests!) while living in the castle.
Pro tip #2: If you are driving from Boston, combine the visit of the Hammond Castle Museum with a visit to Rockport, MA. Based on my experience, you can traverse the entirety of the Hammond Castle and its exterior grounds in about one and a half to two hours, leaving plenty of options to continue your day trip further up the Massachusetts coast into Rockport. Rockport is only 7 miles away on State Route MA-127 from the Hammond Castle Museum.
Pro tip #3: During the months of July and August, Hammond Castle Museum hosts the "Thursday Night Candlelight Tours." With your general admission ticket, you can be guided by candlelight at either 6PM, 7PM, and 8PM on Thursday evenings. The guides will show you the rooms the Hammond frequented and tell stories about how John Hays Hammond Jr. and his wife, Irene Fenton Hammond, enjoyed their many years living in the castle.
Admission Fees
Adults $12.
Senior Citizens (65 yrs +) $10.
Children (ages 6 to 12) $9.
Location
80 Hesperus Ave
Gloucester, MA 01930