Cabot House Offers Free Admission

Hundreds of museums across the country will be offerring free admission on Saturday, courtesy of a program called “Museum Day Live!” by Smithsonian Magazine. The free admission includes four museums within 5 miles of Danvers.

In Beverly, the Beverly Historical Society’s Cabot House is participating in the program. In Salem, the Salem Witch Museum and Phillips House are taking part, as is the Wenham Museum in Wenham.

On Saturday, Wenham Museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Regular admission is $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for children under 18. The museum focuses on childhood and domestic life in New England and includes an extensive doll collection and model train room.

The John Cabot House in Beverly is owned and operated by the Beverly Historic Society and was the first brick mansion built in Beverly. It served as the first home of Beverly Bank in 1802. Regular admission is $5 for adults and $4 for senior citizens and students. Hours on Saturday are 10 am. to 4 p.m.

In Salem, the Witch Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The regular admission charge is $9 for adults, $7.50 for senior citizens and $6 for children age 6-14.

Phillips House is owned and operated by Historic New England and sits in Salem’s Chestnut Street Historic District. It is the only home on the street open to the public. It is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday with tours every hour. Regular admission is $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $2.50 for students. Salem residents are always free.

North of Boston, there are also about seven other participating museums, including Andover Historical Society, Cogswell's Grant and Essex Shipbuilding Museum in Essex, Cape Ann Museum and Sleeper-McCann House in Gloucester, The Great House at Castle Hill in Ipswich, Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford, Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury and Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester. A complete list of participating museums is available on the "Museum Day Live!" website.

The program simply involves going on the Smithsonian Museum’s website and printing out a coupon that is good for free admission for two people.

You are required to submit your information and a coupon is sent to you via e-mail. Tickets are issued for a specific museum.