"Half-way down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.” Thus starts the novel The House of the Seven Gables written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1851. This historic romance, inspired by Hawthorne’s visits to family members who lived in the house, was written the year after Hawthorne penned The Scarlet Letter. This legacy is why the House of the Seven Gables Historic Landmark site exists today, celebrating its 100th Anniversary as a museum dedicated to serving the needs of the community of Salem.