Staff report

SALISBURY — It’s that time of year again when volunteers and staff of Historic Salisbury Foundation descend on the 1820 Dr. Josephus W. Hall House and decorate it for Christmas.

But this year is a little different — something the foundation is calling “Light the Hall House.”

One of the foundation’s year-end goals is to raise $15,000 to complete electrical upgrades at the Hall House and add needed exterior lighting.

Dr. Hall’s great-great-granddaughter Fan Moberg and her husband, Jim, have pledged $2,500 as the lead gift. Year-end donations will help the foundation reach its goal “and keep the Hall House safe and properly lighted for the next generations,” the foundation’s website says.

The house is at 226 S. Jackson St. in the heart of the West Square Historic District.

The foundation started upgrading the house museum’s electrical system with money from the 2015 year-end appeal. Those donations allowed HSF to wire properly the detached kitchen and take care of some hazard concerns in the main house.

The Christmas season in Salisbury wouldn’t be the same without seeing the Hall House adorned in greenery, fruits, berries, antique toys, heirloom quilts and coverlets. Visitors to the museum will find mostly a Victorian-styled Christmas heavy in ribbons, poinsettias, garland, magnolia leaves and blossoms, boxwood, pine cones and holly.

A 12-foot-tall Christmas tree decorates the front parlor.

Individuals or teams have been assigned to decorate each room, hallway and the exterior, and they have a lot to work with, thanks to the Hall House’s high ceilings, chandeliers, fireplaces, long staircases and spacious rooms.

Tours will be held Saturdays and Sundays leading up to Christmas — from 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 9, 10, 16 and 17. An evening tour will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Christmas Eve.

Admission for the weekend tours is $5 per person. Admission to the Christmas Eve tour is by donation.

A Christmas reception for volunteers and docents who have helped with the house will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Salisbury landmark was first used as the girls’ department of Salisbury Academy. Dr. Hall bought it as a residence prior to the Civil War, and he added the two-story front porch with ornamental cast iron in 1859.

Hall served as hospital surgeon and surgeon in charge at the Salisbury Confederate Prison during the war. The house stayed with his descendants until 1972, when it was purchased by Historic Salisbury Foundation.