Less than an hour north of Boston, past a half dozen Dunkin’ Donuts franchises and tucked in behind a Kelly’s Roast Beef and Seafood shop, a towering medieval castle stands watch over the Atlantic coastline.
No, really.
See, the town of Gloucester, Massachusetts is home to so much more than those delicious breaded fish sticks. One of Cape Ann’s most notable residents— besides the Gorton’s fisherman, of course— was John Hays Hammond Jr., an inventor best known as the “father of radio control.” Raised by his talented engineer namesake, Hammond the Younger spent his childhood traveling around the world, developing a lifelong fascination with military history. Upon his eventual return to the United States, Hammond accompanied his father on a work trip to New Jersey, where he managed to turn a brief encounter with Thomas Edison into a long-running internship in the legendary Menlo Park workshop. Later, Hammond went on to graduate from Yale University and began his career in the US Patent Office before settling back in Gloucester and establishing the Hammond Radio Research Laboratory.
In the aftermath of World War I, Hammond’s inventions were a boon to America’s growing defense industry. His work was essential to the development of radio communication systems and torpedo weapons, and his success in contracting with the US Navy brought in massive amounts of income, eclipsing his inherited wealth. Hammond’s work made it possible for him to freely indulge in his hobby of collecting medieval artifacts, and between 1926 and 1926, he went so far as to construct a full-scale castle on the family homestead! The building’s astronomical costs were never fully disclosed, but Hammond Castle would serve as the inventor’s home, laboratory, and private museum until his death in 1965. Later, Hammond Castle and its impressive collection were opened to the public as a museum, and in 1973 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
So when circumstances brought me and my troupe to the North Shore, almost within spitting distance of Hammond Castle, a visit seemed to be a foregone conclusion. And even though it caused me physical pain to slap down twenty bucks a head for admission, I grudgingly had to admit it was worth it. From the sprawling oceanside garden to the tight spiral staircases, the Castle lived up to its billing.
Granted, Hammond Castle is hardly a functional fortress— more like a creative fancy from the Elon Musk of the Gilded Age. But even if the building’s drawbridge is (mostly) decorative, the massive Great Hall still lives up to its billing. And so what if visitors aren’t actually permitted to take a few laps in the Grotto’s indoor pool, complete with Hammond’s “weather control” system for when he felt like swimming in the rain? All but the most jaded of tourists can still enjoy a few quiet minutes of solitude in the man’s private library.
Even though it’s pretty much a certainty that Viking hordes won’t be invading the United States anytime soon, there’s nothing stopping you from pretending. So the next time you find yourself up in Boston and tired of the big city life, remember Hammond Castle as a great way to get a few miles— or a few centuries— away from it all.
