HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
1692 Colonial B&B with Period-Dressed Apparitions
20 East Street, Middleton, MA 01949
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Bed-and-breakfast; rates vary. Check directly with the property.
Access
Limited Access
1692 colonial structure with low ceilings, narrow doorways, and historic stairs.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1692 · 17th-Century Colonial Architecture · Salem Witch Trial Era · Essex County Heritage
The Blue Door Bed and Breakfast occupies a colonial-era house at 20 East Street in Middleton, Massachusetts, a farming town in Essex County roughly 25 miles north of Boston. According to property records and the inn's own marketing, the structure dates to 1692 — the same year as the Salem witch trials, which unfolded in the neighboring towns of Salem Village (now Danvers), Salem, and Andover. Middleton itself was incorporated as a town in 1728 from portions of Salem Village, Topsfield, Andover, and Boxford.
The building has survived more than three centuries of New England weather, alterations, and changes of ownership. It operates today as a bed-and-breakfast property listed by iLoveInns and the broader Massachusetts historic inn network. Its surviving 17th-century framing and the documented Towne family presence in Salem Village (Rebecca Towne Nurse, executed during the 1692 trials, was the most prominent member) give the property strong colonial-era historical context, though no direct documentary link between the East Street house and any Towne family member has been established.
Sources
Three ghostly figures recur in aggregator-database accounts of The Blue Door, all of which should be read as folklore rather than confirmed history. The first is identified as Philip Knight, named in accounts as the builder of the 1692 structure. The second is a woman in a blue dress, called Rebecca Towne in some versions — a name that echoes the Salem-era Towne family but cannot be tied to a specific documented occupant of the East Street house. The third is Captain Henry Quiver, described as having died on the property in the 1850s.
Reported phenomena include the appearance of the blue-gowned female figure in the dining room and occasional doors opening or closing without explanation. No paranormal investigation reports of substantive evidentiary quality have been published; the accounts come from guest experiences and the inn's promotional materials. The building's documented 1692 construction and Essex County setting provide a historically rich backdrop for the lore.
Notable Entities
Book a room at one of the oldest standing residences in Massachusetts, built in 1692 — the year of the Salem witch trials. Three named entities are associated with the building, including a figure in a blue dress reported in the dining room.
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