Peabody-Essex Museum Launches Salem Audio Postcard Series

SALEM, MA —After one of the busiest Halloween tourists in Salem's long history, things are starting to quiet down in the heart of the Witch City.

The relative calm provides residents and remaining tourists a chance to explore the city in a way that is not always possible with hordes of costumed-crazed holiday fanatics forcing the closure of downtown streets in October.

One new opportunity greeting the November visitors is the Peabody Essex Museum's audio postcard series "PEM Walks" that allows people to scan a QR code on signs outside of several historic buildings and receive a tour and brief history lesson.

The tours focus on the city's "uniquely rich architectural heritage" that includes every major American architectural style within the three blocks of the museum's main campus. Four of the structures are designated National Historic Landmarks and another six are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The signs are located in front of each building and provide inside into the history and stories behind these structures.

PEM Content Producer Dinah Cardin hosts the series that include interviews with Steven Mallory, Manager of Historic Structures.

More on the PEM Walks and examples of the audio postcards can be found here.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)