George Francis Dow

Who was George Francis Dow?

George Francis Dow was an American antiquarian for the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, active in Massachusetts.

Dow was born in Carroll, New Hampshire, and joined the American Antiquarian Society in 1910. The Parson Capen House was restored under his direction in 1913. Dow was instrumental in the creation of the Pioneer Village for the 300th anniversary of the founding of Salem, Massachusetts. Joseph Everett Chandler, an architect, and George Francis Dow conceived Pioneer Village as a means to demonstrate life in 1630. They "engaged other experts and architects to help pull it off" before the Tercentenary celebrations. Noted landscape architect Harlan Page Kelsey drew up the plan. Philip Horton Smith planned the restoration of the Ruck House. They created one of America's first living history museums which the city of Salem committed to preserve in perpetuity.

The John Ward House was moved to its present site in 1910 and restored by the Peabody Essex Museum, under the direction of curator and early preservationist George Francis Dow. The house was moved my splitting it into two and rolled on ox-drawn logs from its original site three blocks away.