salem, Massachusetts

{{For timeline|Timeline of Salem, Massachusetts}}

File:Roger Conant, N Washington Sq, Salem (493755) (11363034976).jpg, founder of Salem]]

Image:Nathaniel Hawthorne statue - Salem, Massachusetts.JPG]]

File:Salem shipping colonial color.jpg

Native Americans lived in northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas. The peninsula that would become Salem was known as Naumkeag (alternate spellings Naemkeck,{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=John|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100693021|title=A description of New England; or, The observations, and discoveries of Captain Iohn Smith (admirall of that country) in the north of America, in the year of our Lord 1614; with the successe of sixe ships, that went the next yeare 1615; and the accidents befell him among the French men of warre: with the proofe of the present benefit this countrey affoords; whither this present yeare, 1616, eight voluntary ships are gone to make further tryall.|date=1837|publisher=P. Force|location=Washington}} Nahumkek,{{Cite web|title=The south part of New England as it planted this yeare, 1634|url=https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:q524n611v|access-date=2021-11-09|website=www.digitalcommonwealth.org|language=en}} Neumkeage{{Cite book|last=Perley|first=Sidney|url=http://archive.org/details/indianlandtitles00perl|title=The Indian land titles of Essex County, Massachusetts|date=1912|publisher=Salem, Mass. : Essex Book and Print Club|others=The Library of Congress}}) by the native people who lived there at the time of contact in the early 1600s. Naumkeag was a major settlement for the indigenous group that controlled territory from the Merrimack to the Mystic rivers. The English and other Europeans referred to them as the Naumkeag people. There are probable indigenous settlement sites near the mouths of the North, South, and Forest rivers in Salem.{{Cite journal|last=Massachusetts Historical Commission|title=MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Salem|url=https://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcpdf/townreports/Essex/sal.pdf|journal=Mass Historical Commission}}

The contact period was a disastrous time for the Naumkeag. Many Naumkeag died in a war with the Tarrantine and as a result of a smallpox epidemic in 1617–1619, including their powerful sachem Nanepashemet. The disease had probably been contracted by members who came into contact with European fishermen or explorers. Their strength was reduced just prior to the arrival of English settlers in 1626 to what became modern-day Salem. In 1633, a second smallpox epidemic struck, killing two of Nanepashemet's successors, Montowompate and Wonohaquaham, and leaving his remaining heir Wenepoykin scarred. So it was that English settlers met little resistance on their arrival in Salem. Although Wenepoykin would join Metacomet in King Philip's War in 1675, the English settlers at this point had the numerical superiority to defeat Metacomet's indigenous coalition.

It was not until 1686, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter was recalled by King James II in the creation of the Dominion of New England that Wenepoykin's heirs pressed their claim to the land of Salem, for which they were paid twenty pounds.

Colonists settled Naumkeag in 1626 when a company of fishermenPhippen, George D. "Old Planters of Salem" Hist. Coll. of the Essex Institute Vol. 1, 97 et seq. arrived from Cape Ann led by Roger Conant. Conant's leadership provided the stability for the settlers to survive the first two years, but John Endecott replaced him by order of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Conant stepped aside and was granted {{convert|200|acre|km2}} of land in compensation. These "New Planters" and the "Old Planters"The four Old Planters are John Balch, Roger Conant, Peter Palfrey, and John Woodbury. Crawford, Mary Caroline, Famous families of Massachusetts. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1930, Chap 6 agreed to cooperate because of the diplomacy of Conant and Endecott. To recognize this peaceful transition to the new government, the name of the settlement was changed to Salem, the hellenized name of Shalem (שָׁלֵם), the royal city of Melchizedek, which is identified with Jerusalem.Richard Gildrie, Salem Massachusetts 1626-1683, 4.{{cite web|url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Salem|title=Salem|work=TheFreeDictionary.com}}

In 1628, Endecott ordered that the Great House be moved from Cape Ann, reassembling it on Washington Street north of Church Street.{{cite book |last1=Goff |first1=John |title=Salem's Witch House: A Touchstone to Antiquity |date=2009 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=at1-CQAAQBAJ|isbn=978-1-61423-286-5}} Francis Higginson wrote that "we found a faire house newly built for the Governor" which was remarkable for being two stories high.Felt, J.B. (1827) Annals of Salem W.&S. B. Ives A year later, the Massachusetts Bay Charter was issued creating the Massachusetts Bay Colony with Matthew Craddock as its governor in London and Endecott as its governor in the colony.{{cite book|chapter=Craddock's letter to Endicott|last=Young |first= A.|year=1846| title=Chronicles of the First Planters of the Colony ... |publisher= C.C. Little & J. Brown |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/chroniclesoffirs00younuoft#page/128/mode/2up}} John Winthrop was elected Governor in late 1629, and arrived with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, one of the many events that began the Puritan Great Migration.{{Cite web|url=http://www.greatmigration.org/new_englands_great_migration.html|title=About the Great Migration|last=FASG|first=Robert Charles Anderson|website=www.greatmigration.org|access-date=2017-10-10|archive-date=2020-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902152149/http://www.greatmigration.org/new_englands_great_migration.html}}

In 1639, Endecott, among others, signed the building contract for enlarging the meeting house in Town House Square for the first church in Salem. This document remains part of the town records at City Hall. He was active in the affairs of the town throughout his life. Samuel Skelton was the first pastor of the First Church of Salem, which is the original Puritan church in America.{{cite web |url=http://www.firstchurchinsalem.org/longhistory22.html |title=Barz-Snell, Rev. Jeffrey, "A 'Short' History of the First Church in Salem," First Church in Salem, Unitarian Web Site, Retrieved 4 February, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726055958/http://www.firstchurchinsalem.org/longhistory22.html |archive-date=2011-07-26 }}{{cite book| editor-last=Marsh |editor-first=D. W. |title=Genealogy of the Marsh Family Outline for Five Generations |page= 1 |publisher= Press of J. R. Williams |location= Amherst, MA |year= 1886}} Endecott already had a close relationship with Skelton, having been converted by him, and Endecott considered him as his spiritual father.Upham, William Phineas, Papers Relating to the Rev. Samuel Skelton, 1875.{{cite book|last=Harrison |first=Bruce H. |title=The Family Forest Descendants of Rev. Samuel Skelton |page= 4 |publisher=Millisecond Publishing |location=Kamuela, HI |year= 2004}}

Salem's harbor was defended by Fort Miller in Marblehead from 1632 to 1865, and by Fort Pickering on Winter Island from 1643 to 1865.{{cite web|title=Massachusetts – Fort Pickering|url=https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/ma.html#pickering|publisher=American Forts Network|access-date=3 June 2020}} During the 17th and 18th centuries, Salem was involved in the Atlantic slave trade, surpassing Boston in terms of the town's engagement with the triangular trade. Beginning in 1701 there was a steady political and social effort in Massachusetts to end slavery and by 1770 the practice was all but eliminated, with many slaves winning their freedom.Dilworth, 2011, p. 28

In 1768, Samuel Hall established Salem's first print shop and founded The Essex Gazette Salem's first newspaper, and the third to emerge in Massachusetts.Thomas, 1874, v. 1, p. 177Buckingham, 1850, v. 1, p. 217

{{main|Salem witch trials}}

One of the most widely known aspects of Salem is its history of witchcraft allegations, which started with Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, and their friends playing "with a Venus glase & an Egg" to learn "what trade their sweet harts should be of."{{Cite book |last=Breslaw |first=Elaine G. |title=Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies |year=1997 |page=89}} The infamous Salem witch trials began in 1692, and 19 people were executed by hanging because of the false accusations; Giles Corey was pressed to death for refusing to plead innocent or guilty, thus avoiding the noose and instead dying an innocent man.{{cite web|url=http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people?group.num=G01|title=Salem Witch Trials Notable Persons|website=salem.lib.virginia.edu}} Salem is also significant in legal history as the site of the Dorothy Talbye Trial, where a mentally ill woman was hanged for murdering her daughter because Massachusetts made no distinction at the time between insanity and criminal behavior.{{cite book

|author= Albert Christopher

|url=https://archive.org/details/romanticstorypu01addigoog

|page= [https://archive.org/details/romanticstorypu01addigoog/page/n202 131]

|title=The Romantic Story of the Puritan Fathers: And Their Founding of New Boston

|publisher=L.C. Page & Co.

|access-date=2007-11-14

|year = 1912}}

William Hathorne was a prosperous entrepreneur in early Salem and became one of its leading citizens. He led troops to victory in King Philip's War, served as a magistrate on the highest court, and was chosen as the first speaker of the House of Deputies. He was a zealous advocate of the personal rights of freemen against royal emissaries and agents.{{Cite web|url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/philip/21-end/ch22.html|title=Soldiers in King Philip's War, Chapter 22|website=www.usgennet.org}}Anderson, Robert, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1633, Entry for William Hathorne, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA, 1999. His son Judge John Hathorne came to prominence in the late 17th century when witchcraft was a serious felony. Judge Hathorne is the best known of the witch trial judges, and he became known as the "Hanging Judge" for sentencing accused witches to death.Starkey, Marion, The Devil in Massachusetts, Knopf, Doubleday, 1969.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Life%26Times/Family/Paternal/Introduction.html#JohnHathorne|title=The Paternal Ancestors of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Introduction|website=www.hawthorneinsalem.org|access-date=2011-02-10|archive-date=2020-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205092910/http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Life%26Times/Family/Paternal/Introduction.html#JohnHathorne}}

On February 26, 1775, patriots raised the drawbridge at the North River on North Street, preventing British Colonel Alexander Leslie and his 300 troops of the 64th Regiment of Foot from seizing stores and ammunition hidden in North Salem. Both parties came to an agreement and no blood was shed that day, but war broke out at Lexington and Concord soon after. A group of prominent merchants with ties to Salem published a statement retracting what some interpreted as Loyalist leanings and professing their dedication to the American cause, including Francis Cabot,{{cite book |last1=Crawford |first1=Mary Caroline |title=Famous Families of Massachusetts |date=1930 |publisher=Boston, Little, Brown |chapter-url=http://library.albany.edu/preservation/brittle_bks/Crawford_Familiesv1/Chpt9.pdf |chapter=The Cabot Family |access-date=2016-07-19 |archive-date=2019-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408100500/https://library.albany.edu/preservation/brittle_bks/Crawford_Familiesv1/Chpt9.pdf }} William Pynchon, Thomas Barnard, E. A. Holyoke, and William Pickman.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jkgSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA127 |title=The Loyalists of Massachusetts and the Other Side of the American Revolution |first= James H. |last=Stark |year= 1910 |publisher=The Salem Press Co. |isbn=978-0-7222-7679-2 |access-date=2012-11-10}}

File:Salem Harbor Fitz Hugh Lane.jpeg, 1853, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]]

During the American Revolutionary War, the town became a center for privateering. The documentation is incomplete, but about 1,700 Letters of Marque were granted during that time, issued on a per-voyage basis. Nearly 800 vessels were commissioned as privateers and are credited with capturing or destroying about 600 British ships.{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/privateers.html|title=John Fraylor. Salem Maritime National Historic Park|publisher=Nps.gov|access-date=2012-09-03}} Privateering resumed during the War of 1812.

{{Further|East India Marine Society}}

Following the American Revolution, many ships used as privateers were too large for short voyages in the coasting trade,{{sfn|Trow|1905|p=xx}} and their owners determined to open new avenues of trade to distant countries. The young men of the town, fresh from service on the armed ships of Salem, were eager to embark in such ventures. Captain Nathaniel Silsbee, his first mate Charles Derby, and second mate Richard J. Cleveland were not yet twenty years old when they set sail on a nineteen-month voyage that was perhaps the first from the newly independent America to the East Indies. In 1795, Captain Jonathan Carnes set sail for Sumatra in the Malay Archipelago on his secret voyage for pepper. Nothing was heard from him until eighteen months later, when he entered Salem harbor with a cargo of pepper in bulk, the first to be so imported into the country, and which sold at the extraordinary profit of seven hundred per cent.{{cite book | last = Trow | first = Charles Edward | title = The old shipmasters of Salem | chapter-url = https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028839152/cu31924028839152_djvu.txt | publisher = G.P. Putnam's Sons |location= New York and London | oclc= 4669778 | pages = xx-xxiii| chapter= Introduction | year = 1905 }} The Empress of China, formerly a privateer, was refitted as the first American ship to sail from New York to China.

By 1790, Salem had become the sixth-largest city in the country, and a world-famous seaport—particularly in the China Trade. It had a large cod fishing industry, conducted off the Newfoundland Banks. It exported codfish to Europe and the West Indies, imported sugar and molasses from the West Indies, tea from China, and products depicted on the city seal from the East Indies—in particular Sumatran pepper. Salem ships also visited Africa in the slave trade—Zanzibar in particular. They also traveled to Russia, Japan, and Australia.

File:Crowninshield's Wharf no frame (edit).jpg. Ropes, a mute, was the son of a sea captain and the nephew of prominent Salem ship owner Jerathmiel Peirce. This painting is in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum.]]

The sail frigate {{USS|Essex|1799|6}} was built at one of Enos Briggs's shipyards on Winter Island in 1799.{{Cite web|url=https://www.salemma.gov/veterans-services/pages/salem-frigate|title=The Salem Frigate | salemma|website=www.salemma.gov}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.salemweb.com/tales/briggs.php|title=Enos Briggs at SalemWeb.com}}

The neutrality of the United States was tested during the Napoleonic Wars. After the Chesapeake–Leopard affair, Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807. President Thomas Jefferson closed all ports, an economic blow to the seaport town of Salem. The embargo was the starting point on the path to the War of 1812. Both the United Kingdom and France imposed trade restrictions to weaken each other's economies. This disrupted American trade and tested the United States' neutrality. Royal Navy ships frequently interdicted U.S. merchant ships trading with France and seized their goods, and at times would impress American sailors.

File:1820 Salem Massachusetts map bySaunders BPL 12094.png

The Federal period (1788–1845) marks the beginning of U.S. international relations.Vanita Shastri, The Salem–India Story (2009) Salem had established trade relations with merchants in distant lands, which were a source of livelihood and prosperity for many. Charles Endicott, master of Salem merchantman Friendship, returned in 1831 to report Sumatran natives had plundered his ship, murdering the first officer and two crewmen. Following public outcry, President Andrew Jackson ordered the Potomac on the First Sumatran Expedition, which departed New York City on August 19, 1831.

In another direction, diplomat Edmund Roberts negotiated a treaty with Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat and Oman on September 21, 1833.{{cite journal |last= Cotheal |first= Alexander I. |date= 2008-01-17 |title= Treaty between the United States of America and the Sultân of Masḳaṭ: The Arabic Text |journal= Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume= 4 |issue= 1854 |pages= 341–343 |jstor= 592284}} In 1837, the sultan moved his main place of residence to Zanzibar and welcomed Richard Waters, a resident of Salem, as a United States consul of the early years.{{cite book | last= Gilbert | first= Wesley John | others= Thesis advisor, Professor Kirk Swinehart | title= Our Man in Zanzibar: Richard Waters, American Consul (1837–1845) | url= http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1674&context=etd_hon_theses | access-date= May 3, 2012 | type = B.A. Thesis | series= Departmental Honors in History |date= April 2011 | publisher= Wesleyan University | location= Middletown, Connecticut | page= 20

| quote= Note 23: Of the two hundred registered Salem vessels in 1812, all but fifty-seven were destroyed in the war. James Duncan Phillips, Salem and the Indies; the Story of the Great Commercial Era of the City (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1947), 422.}}

{{Further|Peabody Academy of Science}}

The Old China Trade left a significant mark in two historic districts, Chestnut Street District, part of the Samuel McIntire Historic District containing 407 buildings, and the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, comprising 12 historic structures and about 9 acres (36,000 m²) of land along the waterfront in Salem. Elias Hasket Derby was among the wealthiest and most celebrated of post-Revolutionary merchants in Salem. Derby was also the owner of the Grand Turk, the first New England vessel to trade with China and the second, after the Empress of China, to sail from the United States. Thomas H. Perkins was his supercargo and established strong ties with the Chinese and garnered the Forbes fortune through his illegal opium sales.

Salem was incorporated as a city on March 23, 1836,{{cite web |url=http://www.salempd.org/history.htm |title=Salem history |publisher=Salempd.org |date=2010-05-13 |access-date=2012-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112082322/http://www.salempd.org/History.htm |archive-date=2013-01-12 }} and adopted a city seal in 1839 with the motto "Divitis Indiae usque ad ultimum sinum", Latin for "To the rich East Indies until the last lap." Nathaniel Hawthorne was overseer of Salem's port from 1846 until 1849. He worked in the U.S. Custom House across the street from the port{{cite web|url=http://www.salemweb.com/guide/tour/attract5.shtml |title=Salem Massachusetts – Sites and Attractions Tour |publisher=Salemweb.com |access-date=2012-09-03}} near Pickering Wharf, his setting for the beginning of The Scarlet Letter. In 1858, an amusement park was established at Juniper Point, a peninsula jutting into the harbor. Prosperity left the city with a wealth of fine architecture, including Federal-style mansions designed by one of America's first architects, Samuel McIntire, for whom the city's largest historic district is named. These homes and mansions now make up the greatest concentrations of notable pre-1900 domestic structures in the United States.

Shipping declined throughout the 19th century. Boston and New York City eclipsed Salem and its silting harbor. Consequently, the city turned to manufacturing. Industries included tanneries, shoe factories, and the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company. The Great Salem Fire of 1914 destroyed over 400 homes and left 3,500 families homeless but spared the historic concentration of Federal architecture on Chestnut Street. A memorial plaque on a drugstore building marks the former site of the Korn Leather Factory, which burned in the fire.

File:Muster at Coast Guard Air Station Salem in 1952.jpg

Coast Guard Air Station Salem was established on February 15, 1935, when the United States Coast Guard opened a new seaplane facility in Salem because there was no space to expand the Gloucester Air Station at Ten Pound Island. Coast Guard Air Station Salem was located on Winter Island, an extension of Salem Neck which juts out into Salem Harbor. Search and rescue, hunting for derelicts, and medical evacuations were the station's primary areas of responsibility. During its first year of operation, Salem crews performed 26 medical evacuations. They flew in all kinds of weather, and the radio direction capabilities of the aircraft were of significant value in locating vessels in distress.

During World War II (1939–1945), air crews from Salem flew neutrality patrols along the coast, and the Air Station roster grew to 37 aircraft. Anti-submarine patrols flew regularly. In October 1944, Air Station Salem was designated as the first Air-Sea Rescue station on the eastern seaboard. The Martin PBM Mariner, a hold-over from the war, became the primary rescue aircraft. In the mid-1950s, helicopters came, as did Grumman HU-16 Albatross amphibious flying boats (UFs).

The air station's missions included search and rescue, law enforcement, counting migratory waterfowl for the U.S. Biological Survey, and assisting icebound islands by delivering provisions.{{cite web|url=http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-412372/Coast-Guard-Air-Station-Salem.html|title=Manta – Rediscover America's Small Business|work=Manta}}{{cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/d1/units/ascapecod/history.htm|title=USCG Air Station Cape Cod, MA|work=uscg.mil}}

The station's surviving facilities are part of Salem's Winter Island Marine Park. Salem Harbor was deep enough to host a seadrome with three sea lanes, offering a variety of take-off headings irrespective of wind direction unless there was a strong steady wind from the east. This produced enormous waves that swept into the mouth of the harbor and hampered water operations. When the seadrome was too rough, returning amphibian aircraft used the Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Beverly. Salem Air Station moved to Cape Cod in 1970.

In 2011, the City of Salem completed plans for the {{convert|30|acre|adj=on}} Winter Island Park{{cite web|last=Lytle |first=Stewart |url=http://salem.patch.com/articles/benefits-concerns-discussed-at-wind-turbine-hearing |title=Benefits, Concerns Discussed at Wind Turbine Hearing – Salem, MA Patch |publisher=Salem.patch.com |date=2011-08-03 |access-date=2012-09-03}} and squared off against residents who are against bringing two power-generating windmills to the tip of Winter Island.{{cite web |last=Goff |first=John |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/news/lifestyle/columnists/x1145375982/John-Goff-Salem-windmills-revisited |title=John Goff: Salem windmills, revisited – Salem, Massachusetts – Salem Gazette |publisher=Wickedlocal.com |date=2010-12-04 |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113044505/http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/news/lifestyle/columnists/x1145375982/John-Goff-Salem-windmills-revisited |archive-date=2012-11-13 }} The Renewable Energy Task Force, along with the Energy and Sustainability Manager, Paul Marquis, have recommended the construction of a 1.5-megawatt power turbine at the tip of Winter Island,{{cite web|last=Davis |first=Brendan |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/features/x1260731137/Wind-turbine-project-moves-forward-in-Salem?img=2#axzz1UlBIsVsO |title=Wind turbine project moves forward in Salem – Salem, Massachusetts – Salem Gazette |publisher=Wickedlocal.com |date=2011-06-16 |access-date=2012-09-03}} which is the furthest point from residences and where the winds are the strongest.{{cite web|url=http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_BComm/metdata|title=City of Salem, MA – Winter Island Meteorological Tower Data|author=City of Salem, MA|work=salem.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213014439/http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_BComm/metdata|archive-date=2014-12-13}}

The 30-acre park has been open to the public since the early 1970s. In 2011, a master plan was developed with help from the planning and design firm, Cecil Group of Boston and Bioengineering Group of Salem. The City of Salem paid $45,000 in federal money.{{cite web|url=https://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/plan-calls-for-amphitheater-other-fixes-at-winter-island/article_2b6d2eb7-35c6-515d-9186-dfe90df378e9.html |title=Plan calls for amphitheater, other fixes at Winter Island » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}} In the long term, the projected cost to rehabilitate just the barracks was $1.5 million. But in the short term, there are multiple lower-cost items, like a proposed $15,000 kayak dock or $50,000 to relocate and improve the bathhouse. This is a very important project since Fort Pickering guarded Salem Harbor as far back as the 17th century.{{cite web|url=http://www.mass.gov/governor/pressoffice/pressreleases/2012/2012430-port-compact.html |title=Patrick-Murray Administration Creates Ports of Massachusetts Compact |publisher=Mass.gov |date=2012-04-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}}

File:First Muster 1637.jpg

In 1637, the first muster was held on Salem Common, where for the first time a regiment of militia drilled for the common defense of a multi-community area,{{cite web |url=http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/04/041310-salem.aspx |title=The National Guard – Guard celebrates 373rd First Muster on Salem Common |publisher=Ng.mil |date=2010-04-10 |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607092441/http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/04/041310-salem.aspx |archive-date=2012-06-07 }} thus laying the foundation for what became the Army National Guard. In 1637, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ordered the organization of the Colony's militia companies into the North, South and East Regiments. The colonists adopted the English militia system, which obligated men between the ages of 16 and 60 to own arms and take part in the community's defense.{{cite web|title=Defense.gov News Article: Salem Takes Honor as National Guard's Birthplace|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/id/119052/|work=defense.gov}}{{cite web|author=Sgt. 1st Class Don Veitch|date=20 August 2010|title=Salem designated as birthplace of the National Guard|url=https://www.army.mil/article/44060|work=army.mil}}

Each April, the Second Corps of Cadets gather in front of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, where the body of their founder, Stephen Abbott, is buried. They lay a wreath, play "Taps" and fire a 21-gun salute. In another annual commemoration, soldiers gather at Old Salem Armory to honor soldiers who were killed in the Battles of Lexington and Concord. On April 14, 2012, Salem celebrated the 375th anniversary of the first muster on Salem Common, with more than 1,000 troops taking part in ceremonies and a parade.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x2108297794/Musters-375th-anniversary-today |title=Muster's 375th anniversary today » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}}

Samuel McIntire was one of the first architects in the United States, and his work is a prime example of early Federal-style architecture. The Samuel McIntire Historic District is one of the largest concentrations of 17th and 18th century domestic structures in America.{{Cite web|url=http://www.salemweb.com/guide/arch/mdistrict.php|title=McIntire Historic District|website=www.salemweb.com|access-date=2017-10-11}} It includes McIntire commissions such as the Peirce-Nichols House and Hamilton Hall. The Witch House or Jonathan Corwin House ({{circa|1642}}) is also located in the district. Samuel McIntire's house and workshop were located at 31 Summer Street in what is now the Samuel McIntire Historic District.

Image:Salem Ferry.JPG

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|18.1|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|8.1|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|9.9|sqmi|km2}}, or 55.09%, is water. Salem lies on Massachusetts Bay between Salem Harbor, which divides the city from much of neighboring Marblehead to the southeast, and Beverly Harbor, which divides the city from Beverly along with the Danvers River, which feeds into the harbor. Between the two harbors lies Salem Neck and Winter Island, which are divided from each other by Cat Cove, Smith Pool (located between the two land causeways to Winter Island), and Juniper Cove. The city is further divided by Collins Cove and the inlet to the North River. The Forest River flows through the southern end of town, along with Strong Water Brook, which feeds Spring Pond at the town's southwestern corner. The town has several parks, as well as conservation land along the Forest River and Camp Lion, which lies east of Spring Pond.

The city is divided by its natural features into several small neighborhoods. The Salem Neck neighborhood lies northeast of downtown, and North Salem lies to the west of it, on the other side of the North River. South Salem is south of the South River, lying mostly along the banks of Salem Harbor southward. Downtown Salem lies {{convert|15|mi}} northeast of Boston, {{convert|16|mi}} southwest of Gloucester and Cape Ann, and {{convert|19|mi}} southeast of Lawrence, the other county seat of Essex County. Salem is bordered by Beverly to the north, Danvers to the northwest, Peabody to the west, Lynn to the south, Swampscott to the southeast, and Marblehead to the southeast. The town's water rights extend along a channel into Massachusetts Bay between the water rights of Marblehead and Beverly.

According to the Köppen climate classification, Salem has either a hot-summer humid continental climate (abbreviated Dfa), or a hot-summer humid sub-tropical climate (abbreviated Cfa), depending on the isotherm used.

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|precipitation colour =green

|Jan precipitation mm =91.95

|Feb precipitation mm =87.24

|Mar precipitation mm =116.88

|Apr precipitation mm =104.68

|May precipitation mm =88.10

|Jun precipitation mm =101.76

|Jul precipitation mm =89.36

|Aug precipitation mm =84.31

|Sep precipitation mm =90.57

|Oct precipitation mm =120.57

|Nov precipitation mm =101.16

|Dec precipitation mm =118.46

|Jan high C = 2.6

|Feb high C = 3.8

|Mar high C = 7.2

|Apr high C = 12.6

|May high C = 17.9

|Jun high C = 23.1

|Jul high C = 26.3

|Aug high C = 25.8

|Sep high C = 22.4

|Oct high C = 16.5

|Nov high C = 10.9

|Dec high C = 5.6

|Jan mean C =-1.9

|Feb mean C =-0.9

|Mar mean C =2.7

|Apr mean C =8.1

|May mean C =13.4

|Jun mean C =18.7

|Jul mean C =22.0

|Aug mean C =21.4

|Sep mean C =17.7

|Oct mean C =11.8

|Nov mean C =6.4

|Dec mean C =1.3

|Jan low C = -6.4

|Feb low C = -5.5

|Mar low C = -1.8

|Apr low C = 3.5

|May low C = 8.9

|Jun low C = 14.3

|Jul low C = 17.6

|Aug low C = 16.9

|Sep low C = 13.0

|Oct low C = 7.0

|Nov low C = 1.9

|Dec low C = -2.9

|Jan dew point C =-7.5

|Feb dew point C =-7.3

|Mar dew point C =-4.2

|Apr dew point C =0.9

|May dew point C =7.4

|Jun dew point C =13.3

|Jul dew point C =16.6

|Aug dew point C =16.4

|Sep dew point C =13.0

|Oct dew point C =6.8

|Nov dew point C =0.8

|Dec dew point C =-4.0

|source 1 = PRISM Climate Group{{cite web

| url=https://prism.oregonstate.edu/explorer/

| title=PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University

| publisher=Northwest Alliance for Computational Science & Engineering (NACSE), based at Oregon State University

| access-date=March 16, 2023}}

| date=March 16, 2023}}

{{See also|List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income}}

{{Historical populations

|type= USA

|1635|900

|1765|4427

|1776|5337

|1790|7921

|1800|9457

|1810|12613

|1820|12731

|1830|13895

|1840|15082

|1850|20264

|1860|22252

|1870|24117

|1880|27563

|1890|30801

|1900|35956

|1910|43697

|1920|42529

|1930|43353

|1940|41213

|1950|41880

|1960|39211

|1970|40556

|1980|38220

|1990|38091

|2000|40407

|2010|41340

|2020|44480

|2022|44722

|source={{center|U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2016}}}}

|footnote={{Historical populations/Massachusetts municipalities references}}{{cite web|title=1950 Census of Population|volume=1: Number of Inhabitants|at=Section 6, pp. 21-7 through 21-09, Massachusetts Table 4. Population of Urban Places of 10,000 or more from Earliest Census to 1920|publisher=Bureau of the Census|access-date=July 12, 2011|year=1952|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1ch06.pdf}}{{cite book|author=United States Census Bureau|date=1909|title=A Century of Population Growth|chapter=Population in the Colonial and Continental Periods|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00165897ch01.pdf|page=11|access-date=2020-08-17|archive-date=2021-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804062114/https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00165897ch01.pdf}}{{cite web | title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2022| publisher=United States Census Bureau | access-date=October 29, 2023 | url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html}}

}}

Throughout the colonial period and thereafter, Salem was one of the largest municipalities in the United States; as late as the 1820 census, Salem was ranked in the top ten cities in the country by population, and would not drop out of the top 100 until the 20th century.{{citation |title=Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990 |year=1998 |url=https://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/1998/demo/POP-twps0027.html |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau }}

As of the census{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }} of 2010, there were 41,340 people, 19,130 households, and 9,708 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|4,986.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 18,175 housing units at an average density of {{convert|2,242.7|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 81.5% White, 4.9% African American, 0.2% Native American, 2.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 6.7% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.6% of the population (9.1% Dominican, 2.9% Puerto Rican, 0.5% Mexican, 0.3% Guatemalan).{{cite web|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25/2559105.html|title=Salem (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau|work=census.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112164907/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25/2559105.html|archive-date=2016-01-12}} Non-Hispanic Whites were 75.9% of the population in 2010, compared to 95.9% in 1980.{{cite web|title=Massachusetts – Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html|access-date=2012-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html|archive-date=2012-08-12}}

There were 17,492 households, out of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.8% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.5% were non-families. Of all households 34.9% were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.2% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $44,033, and the median income for a family was $55,635. Males had a median income of $38,563 versus $31,374 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,857. About 6.3% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.2% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

{{See also|Chestnut Street District|Salem Maritime National Historic Site}}

The Pickman House, built {{circa|1664}}, abuts the Witch Memorial and Burying Point Cemetery, the second oldest burying ground in the United States.

The Gedney House is a historic house museum built {{circa|1665}} and is the 2nd oldest house in Salem.

File:Peirce-Nichols House.jpg, designed by Samuel McIntire, was owned by prominent ship owner Jerathmeil Peirce and is maintained as a museum by the Peabody Essex Museum.]]

One of the most popular houses in Salem is The Witch House, the only structure in Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692. The Witch House is owned and operated by the City of Salem as a historic house museum.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemweb.com/witchhouse/ |title=The Witch House (Jonathan Corwin House), Salem, Massachusetts |publisher=Salemweb.com |access-date=2012-09-03}}

Hamilton Hall is located on Chestnut Street, where many grand mansions can be traced to the roots of the Old China Trade. Hamilton Hall was built in 1805 by Samuel McIntire and is considered one of his best pieces. It was declared a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1970.

In recent years, tourism has been an occasional source of debate in the city, with some residents arguing the city should downplay witch tourism and market itself as a more upscale cultural center. In 2005, the conflict came to a head over plans by the cable television network TV Land to erect a bronze statue of Elizabeth Montgomery, who played the comic witch "Samantha" in the 1960s series Bewitched.{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4632488 |title=Salem Residents Oppose Planned 'Bewitched' Statue |first=Anthony |last=Brooks |newspaper=NPR.org |date=May 5, 2005 |publisher=National Public Radio |access-date=April 28, 2011}} A few special episodes of the series were actually filmed in Salem, and TV Land said that the statue commemorated the 35th anniversary of those episodes. The statue was sculpted by StudioEIS under the direction of brothers Elliott and Ivan Schwartz. Many felt the statue was good fun and appropriate to a city that promotes itself as "The Witch City", and contains a street named "Witch Way". Others objected to the use of public property for what was transparently commercial promotion.{{cite news |title=Controversial'Bewitched'statue besmirched by red paint |first=Bruno Jr. |last=Matarazzo |url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1150790323/ControversialBewitchedstatue-besmirched-by-red-paint |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909153100/http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1150790323/ControversialBewitchedstatue-besmirched-by-red-paint |archive-date=September 9, 2012 |newspaper=The Salem News |publisher=Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. |date=July 20, 2006 |access-date=April 28, 2011 }}

There is also a memorial to the victims of the infamous Witch Trials at Proctor's Ledge, the execution site from that time. The memorial is "meant to be a place of reflection" for the city.{{cite news |last1=Shea |first1=Andrea |date=19 July 2017 |title=Salem, Mass., Dedicates Memorial To Witches Who Died On The Gallows |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/07/19/538148832/salem-mass-dedicates-memorial-to-witches-who-died-on-the-gallows |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20170719230656/https://www.npr.org/2017/07/19/538148832/salem-mass-dedicates-memorial-to-witches-who-died-on-the-gallows |archive-date=19 July 2017 |access-date=26 February 2024 |publisher=NPR}}

Image:Friendship of Salem.JPG replica in Salem]]

File:Old Salem Jail, Post Renovation.jpg

In 2000, the replica tall ship Friendship of Salem was finished and sailed to Salem Harbor, where she sits today. The Friendship of Salem{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/sama/photosmultimedia/index.htm|title=Photos & Multimedia|work=nps.gov}} is a reconstruction of a {{convert|171|ft|m|adj=on}} three-masted East Indiaman trading ship, originally built in 1797, which traveled the world over a dozen times and returned to Salem after each voyage with goods from all over the world. The original was taken by the British during the War of 1812, then stripped and sold in pieces.{{cite web |url=http://www.salemweb.com/frndship/ |title=Friendship Overview |publisher=salemweb.com |location=Salem, Massachusetts |access-date=April 28, 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/legacy/nomenclature.html|title=Designation of National Park System Units|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2008-04-05}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/legacy/organic-act.htm|title=The National Park Service Organic Act|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2008-04-05}}

In 2006, with the assistance of a 1.6 million dollar grant and additional funds provided by the City of Salem,{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} Mayor Driscoll launched The Nathaniel Bowditch, a 92-foot catamaran with a top speed of 30 knots which makes the trip between Salem and Boston in just under an hour.

Waterfront redevelopment – The first step in the redevelopment was in 2006, when the State of Massachusetts gave Salem $1,000,000. Bowditch, who was born in Salem and had a home on North Street, is considered the founder of modern maritime navigation. His book, Bowditch's American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. naval vessel.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}}

The original Fame was a fast Chebacco fishing schooner that was reborn as a privateer when war broke out in the summer of 1812. She was arguably the first American privateer to bring home a prize, and she made 20 more captures before being wrecked in the Bay of Fundy in 1814.

The new Fame is a full-scale replica of this famous schooner. Framed and planked of white oak and trunnel-fastened in the traditional manner, the replica of Fame was launched in 2003. She is now based at Salem's Pickering Wharf Marina, where she takes the paying public for cruises on Salem Sound.{{cite web |url=http://www.schoonerfame.com/main.html |title=The Schooner Fame – The Salem Privateer – Harbor Cruises in Salem, MA |publisher=Schoonerfame.com |date=2012-06-14 |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921072949/http://www.schoonerfame.com/main.html |archive-date=2012-09-21 }}

Salem Harborwalk opened in July 2010 to celebrate the rebirth of the Salem waterfront as a source of recreation for visitors as well as the local community. The {{convert|1100|ft|adj=on}} walkway extends from the area of the Salem Fire Station to the Salem Waterfront Hotel.{{cite news |title=Salem Harborwalk opens amid appreciative crowd |first=Stacie N. |last=Galang |url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x540035125/Salem-Harborwalk-opens-amid-appreciative-crowd |newspaper=The Salem News |publisher=Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. |date=July 16, 2010 |access-date=April 28, 2011}}{{cite news |title=Grants will transform Peabody Street lot into park, harbor walk destination |first=Meaghan |last=Glasset |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/news/x9493533#axzz1KqwbTVMT |newspaper=Salem Gazette |date=November 8, 2007 |access-date=April 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113044454/http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/news/x9493533 |archive-date=November 13, 2012 }}

The Peabody Essex Museum is a leading museum of Asian art and culture and early American maritime trade and whaling; its collections of Indian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese art, and in particular Chinese export porcelain, are among the finest in the country. Founded in 1799, it is one of the oldest continuously operating museums in the United States.{{cite web |url=http://www.pem.org/about/director |title=About PEM |publisher=Peabody Essex Museum |location=Salem, Massachusetts |access-date=April 28, 2011}} The museum owns and exhibits a number of historic houses in downtown Salem. In 2003, it completed a massive $100 million renovation and expansion, designed by architect Moshe Safdie, and moved a 200-year-old 16-room Chinese home from Xiuning County in southeastern China to the grounds of the museum.{{cite web |url=http://www.pem.org/yinyutang/ |title=Yin Yu Tang |publisher=Pem.org |date=2006-06-07 |access-date=2012-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210224230/http://pem.org/yinyutang/ |archive-date=2009-02-10 }}

In 2011, the Peabody Essex Museum announced it had raised $550 million with plans to raise an additional $100 million by 2016. The Boston Globe reported this was the largest capital campaign in the museum's history vaulting the Peabody Essex into the top tier of major art museums. The Peabody Essex Museum trustees co-chairs Sam Byrne and Sean Healey with board president Robert Shapiro led the campaign.$200 to $250 million will fund the museum's 175,000-square-foot expansion bringing the total square footage to 425,000 square feet.{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/salem/2012/07/peabody_essex_museum_prepares.html|title=Peabody Essex Museum prepares for expansion|work=Boston.com}}

The Misery Islands is a nature reserve located in Salem Sound that was established in 1935. It is managed by the Trustees of Reservations. The islands' name come from shipbuilder Robert Moulton who was stranded on the islands during a winter storm in the 1620s. The islands, in the past, have been home to a club with a golf course and about two dozen cottages. The islands are now uninhabited.{{cite web |url=http://www.thetrustees.org/pages/323_misery_islands.cfm |title=Misery Islands - the Trustees of Reservations |access-date=2014-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425082639/http://www.thetrustees.org/pages/323_misery_islands.cfm |archive-date=2009-04-25 }}

The Pioneer Village, created in 1930, was America's first living-history museum. The site features a three-acre re-creation of a Puritan village and allows visitors the opportunity to participate in activities from the lives of Salem's earliest English settlers.{{cite web |url=http://www.salemweb.com/tales/pioneervillage.shtml |title=Pioneer Village: Salem 1630 |publisher=salemweb.com |location=Salem, Massachusetts |access-date=April 28, 2011}}

The Old Salem Jail, an active correctional facility until 1991, once housed captured British soldiers from the War of 1812. It contains the main jail building (built in 1813, renovated in 1884), the jail keeper's house (1813) and a barn (also about 1813). The jail was shuttered in 1991 when Essex County opened its new facility in Middleton. In 2010, a $12 million renovation was completed.{{cite news |title=Salem Jail to hold first open house |first=Tom |last=Dalton |url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1690090117/Salem-Jail-to-hold-first-open-house |newspaper=The Salem News |publisher=Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. |date=March 24, 2010 |access-date=April 28, 2011}} One feature of the reconstruction is the jail keeper's house, a three-story brick, Federal-period building originally built in 1813. The project went into a long phase of stagnation when in 1999 the county government was dissolved, resulting in the sale of Salem Jail by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the City of Salem for $1.{{cite news |title=Work set to begin at old jail |first=Tom |last=Dalton |url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1690075494/Work-set-to-begin-at-old-jail |newspaper=The Salem News |publisher=Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. |date=April 22, 2009 |access-date=April 28, 2011}} The Old Salem Jail complex was renamed 50 Saint Peter Street and is now private property, with private residences.{{cite news |title=Access to public an issue at old jail |first=Tom |last=Dalton |url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1601577688/Access-to-public-an-issue-at-old-jail |newspaper=The Salem News |publisher=Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. |date=July 19, 2010 |access-date=April 28, 2011}}

Salem Willows is an oceanfront neighborhood and amusement park. It is named for the European white willow trees planted there in 1801 to form a shaded walk for patients convalescing at a nearby smallpox hospital. The area became a public park in 1858, and in the twentieth century became a summer destination for residents of Boston's North Shore, many of whom escaped the heat of the city on newly popular streetcars. The beaches are also a common place to watch the 4th of July fireworks since you can see three sets of fireworks; Salem, Beverly, and Marblehead. The Willows also has a famous popcorn stand, Hobbs, which is known around the North Shore as one of the best places to get popcorn and ice cream.

In 1855, located on 210 Essex Street, was founded the Salem Five Cents Bank, one of the oldest still functioning American banks.

{{Cite web |url=http://mass.historicbuildingsct.com/?p=4541 |title=Salem Five Cents Savings Bank (1892) |date=11 August 2012 |access-date=10 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312072014/http://mass.historicbuildingsct.com/?p=4541 |archive-date=2017-03-12 }}

File:SalemMassCustomHouseNaturalization1ty13541.jpg ceremony on the stairs of the Custom House, Salem Maritime National Historic Site]]

{{See also|National Register of Historic Places listings in Salem, Massachusetts}}

• Crowninshield-Bentley House ({{circa|1727–1730}})
• Gedney House ({{circa|1665}}), one of the oldest homes in Salem; located on High Street and Summer Street
• House of the Seven Gables (1668)
• John Tucker Daland House (1851)
• Joseph Story House (1811)
• White-Lord House (1811) 31 Washington Square
• Gardner-Pingree House (1804) Built by Samuel McIntire. Owned by Captain Joseph White who was murdered in the home in 1830 by his nephew Stephen White.
• Chestnut Street District, also known as the McIntire Historic District,{{cite web|url=http://www.salemweb.com/guide/arch/mdistrict.shtml|title=Salem Massachusetts Salem Architecture: McIntire|work=salemweb.com}} greatest concentration of 17th and 18th century domestic structures in the U.S.
• First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist, founded in 1629.
• John Hodges House (1788) Built for the founder of the Salem East India Marine Society who founded what is now the Peabody Essex Museum.
• Derby House (1762) First brick house built in Salem after another man had died of a cold who lived in a brick home. Home of America's first millionaire ranked the 10th richest in history.
• Misery Islands
• Nathaniel Bowditch House ({{circa|1805}}), home of the founder of modern navigation
• Nathaniel Hawthorne Birthplace ({{circa|1730–1745}})
• Peabody Essex Museum (1799), oldest continually operated museum in America
• Peirce-Nichols House, home of Jerathmiel Peirce, owner of the Friendship of Salem. Designed by noted architect Samuel McIntire.
• Phillips Library
• Pickering House ({{circa|1651}}), Broad Street
• Pioneer Village ({{circa|1930}}), Forest River Park
• Ropes Mansion (late 1720s)
• Salem Athenaeum
• Salem Common
• Salem Maritime National Historic Site, the only remaining intact waterfront from the U.S. age of sail
• Salem Willows Park (1858), a small oceanfront amusement park
• Stephen Phillips House (1800 & 1821)
• Winter Island, park and historic point of the U.S. Coast Guard in World War II for U-boat patrol
• The Witch House, the home of the Salem witch trials investigator Jonathan Corwin, and the only building still standing in Salem with direct ties to the witch trials
• Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery, a horror film museum

Salem is represented federally by Democrat Seth Moulton in Massachusetts's 6th congressional district and Democratic Massachusetts senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren.

Salem is represented in the state legislature by officials elected from the following districts:

• Massachusetts Senate's 2nd Essex district{{citation |url=https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2011/Chapter152 |access-date= August 23, 2020 |work= Session Laws: Acts (2011) |title=An Act Establishing Executive Councillor and Senatorial Districts |author=Massachusetts General Court }}
• Massachusetts House of Representatives' 7th Essex district{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eledist/reps11idx.htm |title=Massachusetts Representative Districts |access-date= August 23, 2020 |work=Sec.state.ma.us }}

Salem is represented at the state executive level in Massachusetts's 5th governor's council district and the Southern District of the Massachusetts Registry of Deeds.

Salem operates under a city government system, with an independently elected mayor and an 11-member city council consisting of 4 at-large members and 7 members elected from each of Salem's 7 wards.

Salem State University{{cite web|url=http://www.salemstate.edu/7242.php|title=Salem State University: Construction on New Residence Hall Begins|work=salemstate.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006112134/http://www.salemstate.edu/7242.php|archive-date=2014-10-06}} is the largest of the nine schools comprising the state university system in Massachusetts (the five University of Massachusetts campuses are a separate system), with 7,500 undergraduates and 2,500 graduate students;{{cite web |url=http://www.salemstate.edu/about/facts.php |title=Salem State University: Facts and Figures |year=2010 |publisher=Salem State University |location=Salem, Massachusetts |access-date=April 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522185552/http://www.salemstate.edu/about/facts.php |archive-date=May 22, 2011 }} its five campuses encompass {{convert|115|acre|km2}} and include 33 buildings. The Salem State Foundation hosts an annual lecture series, featuring high-profile speakers from around the world.{{cite web |url=http://www.salemstate.edu/6081.php |title=Salem State University Series |year=2011 |publisher=Salem State University |location=Salem, Massachusetts |access-date=April 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805204342/http://www.salemstate.edu/6081.php |archive-date=August 5, 2011 }}{{cite web|url=http://calendar.boston.com/salem_ma/venues/show/480658-mainstage-theatre|title=Boston Events and Things To Do in Boston in Boston|work=Boston.com}} was originally built in the 1950s and in January 2014 a $18,600,000 project was announced with development.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemstate.edu/arts/2364.php|title=Salem State University: Contact Us and Directions|work=salemstate.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627150933/http://www.salemstate.edu/arts/2364.php|archive-date=2014-06-27}}{{cite web|url=http://www.artsboston.org/venue/detail/5921/Salem_State_College_Mainstage_Theatre|title=Salem State College Mainstage Theatre|work=artsboston.org|access-date=2014-04-21|archive-date=2014-06-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624094031/http://www.artsboston.org/venue/detail/5921/Salem_State_College_Mainstage_Theatre}}{{cite web|url=http://www.salemstate.edu/arts/2359.php|title=Salem State University: Theatre|work=salemstate.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327174652/http://www.salemstate.edu/arts/2359.php|archive-date=2014-03-27}}

The university was founded in 1854 as the Salem Normal School (for teacher training) based on the educational principles espoused by Horace Mann, considered to be the "Father of American Public Education."{{cite web |url=http://www.salemstate.edu/about/history.php |title=History of Salem State University |year=2011 |publisher=Salem State University |location=Salem, Massachusetts |access-date=April 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606061555/http://www.salemstate.edu/about/history.php |archive-date=June 6, 2011 }}

Salem State University enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students representing 27 states and 57 foreign countries and is one of the largest state universities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university also offers Continuing Education courses for credit or non-credit. Situated on five campuses totaling {{convert|115|acre|km2}}. Currently, the university houses 2,000 students in its five residence facilities. In 2013 the $74 million, 122,000-square-foot library is going to open on the Salem State University campus.{{cite news|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x730444445/Coming-soon-SSUs-new-library|title=Coming soon: SSU's new library|first=Bethany|last=Bray|newspaper=Salem News}} The new library will have more than 150 public computers and 1,000 seats of study space, from tables and desks to lounge chairs scattered throughout the building.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1387893504/North-Shore-gets-5M-for-life-sciences/?state=taberU|title=North Shore gets $5M for life sciences|first=Paul|last=Leighton|newspaper=Salem News|date=29 March 2014 }}

On July 28, 2010 Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick signed into law a bill that transforms Salem State College into Salem State University.{{cite web|url=https://www.salemstate.edu/about/10505.php|title=Salem State University: Massachusetts legislature accords Salem State university status; University designation will benefit region in numerous ways|work=salemstate.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325191221/https://www.salemstate.edu/about/10505.php|archive-date=2014-03-25}}

Salem State University plans to build a $36 to $42 million dorm for 350 to 400 students. Construction starts in the spring of 2014.{{cite web|url=http://salem.patch.com/articles/new-dorm-coming-to-salem-state-college|title=New Dorm Coming to Salem State University|work=Salem, Massachusetts Patch|date=10 March 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1503764583/New-dorm-on-tap-at-SSU|title=New dorm on tap at SSU|first=Bethany|last=Bray|newspaper=Salem News|date=8 March 2013 }} In April 2014, Salem State University announced a $25,000,000 fund, and at the time of the announcement, there was already $15,000,000 committed from donations and the money will be used for a variety of things from expanding international study programs, more faculty, brand new computers, scholarships and continued support of professional development for the staff.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1445044384/SSU-unveils-25M-fund-drive/print|title=SSU unveils $25M fund drive|first=Neil H.|last=Dempsey|newspaper=Salem News|date=14 April 2014 }}

Public elementary schools include the Bates, Carlton, Horace Mann, Saltonstall and Witchcraft Heights schools. Collins Middle School is located on Highland Avenue.{{cite web|url=http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/search/map.aspx?mode=g&county=Essex&town=347|title=Profiles Search|website=profiles.doe.mass.edu}}

Horace Mann and Salem High School are located on Wilson Street. The Nathaniel Bowditch School closed in 2018 and the Horace Mann School relocated to their previous location. Salem Academy Charter School and Bentley Academy Charter School are also public schools. Private schools are also located in the city, including two independent, alternative schools, The Phoenix School{{Cite web|url=https://phoenixschool.org/|title=Home|website=The Phoenix School}} and the Greenhouse School.

In late 2007 and early 2008, the city's public school system garnered regional and even national attention after officials announced a $4.7 million budget shortfall that threatened the jobs of teachers and other staff members. The Massachusetts General Court passed legislation, and residents raised enough money, which averted teacher layoffs. Several dozen support workers were still laid off.{{cite web |url=http://www.salemnews.com/archivesearch/local_story_036064607.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908191335/http://www.salemnews.com/archivesearch/local_story_036064607.html |archive-date=2012-09-08 |title=Time line of a crisis » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |access-date=2012-11-10 }} Police were investigating what happened to the money in a search for criminal violations of the law.{{cite web |url=http://www.salemnews.com/archivesearch/local_story_023232714.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909015656/http://www.salemnews.com/archivesearch/local_story_023232714.html |archive-date=2012-09-09 |title=Schools regroup; cops probe $4.7M deficit » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2008-01-24 |access-date=2012-11-10 }}

Salem also once had a very strong Roman Catholic school system. Once home to almost a dozen schools, the last school in the city, St. Joseph School, closed in July 2009 after over 100 years of providing Catholic education. St. James High School, St. Chretienne Academy, St. Chretienne Grammar School and St. Mary's School closed in 1971, St. James Grammar School closed in 1972, St. Thomas the Apostle School closed in 1973, St. Anne School closed in 1976, St. John the Baptist School closed in 1977 and St. Joseph High School closed in 1980.{{cite web |url=http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_340000315.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120911151231/http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_340000315.html |archive-date=2012-09-11 |title=St. Joseph School in Salem closing » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2008-12-05 |access-date=2012-11-10 }}

• The silent movie Java Head was filmed on location in Salem in 1922.{{Cite journal|last=Frayler|first=John|date=2006|title=Java Head is Missing|url=http://npshistory.com/publications/sama/newsletter/v8n1.pdf|journal=Pickled Fish and Salted Provisions|volume=8}}
• In June 1970, episode 205 of Bewitched was filmed in Salem.
• Hocus Pocus was filmed in Salem, which is also the setting of both the movie and its sequel, Hocus Pocus 2.
• Sabrina The Teenage Witch filmed an episode in Salem and her black cat familiar was also named Salem.
• In 2008, beginning scenes from the film Bride Wars were filmed at the interior of the Peabody Essex Museum.{{cite web |last=Guerriero |first=Lisa |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/fun/entertainment/x2118742612/Bride-Wars-takes-Salem-by-storm |title='Bride Wars' takes Salem by storm – Salem, Massachusetts – Salem Gazette |publisher=Wickedlocal.com |date=2008-05-20 |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113044641/http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/fun/entertainment/x2118742612/Bride-Wars-takes-Salem-by-storm |archive-date=2012-11-13 }}
• The 2012 Rob Zombie movie The Lords of Salem was set and filmed in Salem.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1078452797/A-real-Zombie-visits-Salem |title=A real Zombie visits Salem » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}}{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/business/x1144836383/CASTING-call |title=CASTING call » Business » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-02-22 |access-date=2012-09-03}}
• Who Do You Think You Are? included an episode tracing the ancestry of actress Sarah Jessica Parker, filming on location in Salem.{{cite web |title=Movies and Shows Filmed in Salem, Massachusetts |url=https://www.salem.org/blog/filmed-in-salem/ |website=Salem.org |access-date=13 December 2024}}
• Some interior and street scenes for 2013's American Hustle were filmed on Federal St. in Salem outside the Essex Superior Court House and Old Granite Courthouse.{{cite web|last=Bray |first=Bethany |url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x326071835/Christian-Bale-Amy-Adams-flick-filming-in-Salem |title=Christian Bale, Amy Adams flick filming in Salem |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2013-04-30 |access-date=2014-07-09}}{{cite web|url=http://anenglishwomaninsalem.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/no-more-american-hustle-movie-stars-in-salem-ma/ |title=No more American Hustle movie stars in Salem, MA |date=2013-05-13 |access-date=2014-07-09}}{{cite web |last=Bord |first=Christine |url=http://www.onlocationvacations.com/2013/05/01/wednesday-may-1-filming-locations-in-nyc-l-a-boston-more-including-american-hustle-dexter-girls-a-walk-among-the-tombstones/#more-43853 |title=Wednesday, May 1: Filming Locations in NYC, L.A., Boston, & more including American Hustle, Dexter, Girls, & A Walk Among The Tombstones |publisher=onlocationvacations.com |date=2013-05-01 |access-date=2014-07-09 |archive-date=2014-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714230947/http://www.onlocationvacations.com/2013/05/01/wednesday-may-1-filming-locations-in-nyc-l-a-boston-more-including-american-hustle-dexter-girls-a-walk-among-the-tombstones/#more-43853 }}
• Scenes from 2015's Joy were filmed in the Boston area, with scenes shot in Salem shot at the Hawthorne Hotel.
• Chronicle, a New England-centered newsmagazine show, has produced multiple episodes about Salem over the years, which have been filmed on location.
• Scenes from the supernatural horror television series Castle Rock have been filmed in Salem, specifically at Pioneer Village, a living-history museum that focuses on pilgrim-era Salem.
• The comedy film Hubie Halloween starring Adam Sandler was filmed in Salem in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.boston.com/culture/entertainment/2019/07/17/adam-sandler-returns-to-the-north-shore-to-film-hubie-halloween|title = Adam Sandler is on the North Shore to film Netflix movie 'Hubie Halloween'}}{{Cite web|url=https://patch.com/massachusetts/salem/adam-sandler-movie-set-salem-filming|title = Weather Delays Salem Filming for Adam Sandler Movie|date = 15 July 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.boston.com/culture/entertainment/2019/07/21/photos-hubie-halloween-adam-sandler-north-shore|title = Photos: Halloween arrived early on the North Shore thanks to Adam Sandler's 'Hubie Halloween' filming}}
• Defending Jacob, a crime drama miniseries, features scenes shot by the courthouse on Federal Street.

File:Veterans Memorial Bridge.JPG]]

The connection between Salem and Beverly is made across the Danvers River and Beverly Harbor by three bridges, the Kernwood Bridge to the west, and a railroad bridge and the Essex Bridge, from the land between Collins Cove and the North River, to the east. The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries Massachusetts Route 1A across the river. Route 1A passes through the eastern side of the city, through South Salem towards Swampscott. For much of its length in the city, it is coextensive with Route 114, which goes north from Marblehead before merging with Route 1A, and then heading northwest from downtown towards Lawrence. Route 107 also passes through town, entering from Lynn in the southwest corner of the city before heading towards its intersection with Route 114 and terminating at Route 1A. There is no highway access within the city; the nearest highway access to Route 128 is along Route 114 in neighboring Peabody.

Salem has a station on the Newburyport/Rockport Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail. The railroad lines are also connected to a semi-abandoned portion of freight lines which lead into Peabody, and a former line into Marblehead has been converted into a bike path. There are talks of potentially establishing a South Salem station, which would be located on Ocean Avenue West and provide more efficient transportation to South Salem and students at Salem State University.{{cite web |last1=McHugh |first1=Michael |title=Markey, Moulton tour site of future commuter rail station |url=https://www.salemnews.com/news/markey-moulton-tour-site-of-future-commuter-rail-station/article_613b40d2-55dc-11ef-bafa-b35714efbe3b.html |website=Salem News |access-date=13 December 2024}}

Several MBTA Bus routes pass through the city. Route 435 starts at Salem station and continues along North Street through North Salem to Danvers. Route 450 starts at Salem station and continues through Federal Street and along Highland Avenue in Southwest Salem, continuing to Lynn.{{cite web |title=450 |url=https://www.mbta.com/schedules/450/line |website=MBTA |access-date=13 December 2024}} Route 451 starts at Salem station and goes through Downtown Salem before continuing along Bridge Street to Beverly.{{cite web |title=451 |url=https://www.mbta.com/schedules/451/line |publisher=MBTA |access-date=13 December 2024}} Route 455 starts at Salem station and runs along Lafayette street and Loring avenue through South Salem and by the campus of Salem State University, continuing into Swampscott.{{cite web |title=455 |url=https://www.mbta.com/schedules/455/line |publisher=MBTA |access-date=13 December 2024}} Route 456 follows the same route as Route 450 inside the city of Salem, diverting to Lynn station after entering Lynn.{{cite web |title=456 |url=https://www.mbta.com/schedules/456/line |publisher=MBTA |access-date=13 December 2024}}

Students of Salem State University are additionally able to request a student-driven shuttle bus that takes them between the various campuses of the university as well as Downtown Salem.{{cite web |title=Take the Shuttle |url=https://ask.salemstate.edu/kb/take-shuttle |publisher=Salem State University |access-date=13 December 2024}}

The City of Salem launched a microtransit network called the Salem Skipper in December 2020.{{Cite web|title=StackPath|url=https://www.masstransitmag.com/alt-mobility/press-release/21202027/via-transportation-salem-mass-readies-for-salem-skipper-start-on-dec-16|access-date=2022-01-13|website=www.masstransitmag.com|date=December 11, 2020 }}{{Cite web|date=2020-12-09|title=City of Salem launches the Salem Skipper: on-demand transit for residents, commuters|url=https://ridewithvia.com/news/city-of-salem-launches-the-salem-skipper-on-demand-transit-for-residents-commuters/|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Via Transportation|language=en-US}} The on-demand transit network is operated by Via and allows riders to share the same vehicle for approximately the same price as a MBTA Bus ticket. Passengers can hail a ride on their mobile device with the Salem Skipper app, or by calling a dispatcher.

The nearest general aviation airport is Beverly Municipal Airport, and the nearest commercial airline service for national and international flights is at Boston's Logan International Airport.

The Nathaniel Bowditch is a {{convert|92|ft|adj=on}} high-speed catamaran that travels from Salem to Boston in 50 minutes from May to October and had its maiden voyage on June 22, 2006. The Salem Ferry is named after Nathaniel Bowditch, who was from Salem and wrote the American Practical Navigator.{{cite web |url=http://www.salempartnership.org/wharf.htm |title=The Salem Harbor Plan |publisher=The Salem Partnership |date=2006-06-22 |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303142727/http://www.salempartnership.org/wharf.htm |archive-date=2012-03-03 }} Ridership increased every year from 2006 to 2010, when it peaked with 89,000, but in 2011 service was cut back because of the dramatic rise in fuel prices.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1095948107/Salem-ferry-cuts-back-to-three-days-a-week |title=Salem ferry cuts back to three days a week » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}}{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1940327042/Salem-may-dump-ferry-operator |title=Salem may dump ferry operator|publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}} The Salem Ferry is docked at the Derby Waterfront District.{{cite web|url=http://www.bostonharborcruises.com/salem-ferry/salem-ferry/|title=Salem Ferry|website=Boston Harbor Cruises|access-date=2016-11-01|archive-date=2018-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208194908/http://www.bostonharborcruises.com/salem-ferry/salem-ferry/}}

The ferry was purchased by the City of Salem with the use of grant money that covered 90 percent of the $2.1 million purchase price.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1437249329/Salem-ferry-operator-Its-not-working-out |title=Salem ferry operator: 'It's not working out' » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}} Because of the cutback in service during the 2011 season, Mayor Kim Driscoll is now seeking a new operator who can run the ferry seven days a week from May to October.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemferry.com/ |title=The Salem Ferry |publisher=The Salem Ferry |access-date=2012-11-10}}

For the 2012 season Boston Harbor Cruises took over the running of the Salem Ferry with seven-day service and a Monday to Friday 7 a.m. commuter ferry to Boston.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1585742337/Commuter-trip-is-in-ferry-bid |title=Commuter trip is in ferry bid » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}} The Salem Ferry will be running seven days a week for the 2012 season starting the first weekend in June and going through to Halloween.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x234167886/Salem-ferry-delayed |title=Salem ferry delayed » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}}

Boston Harbor Cruises, the contractor that operates the city's commuter ferry to Boston, runs their largest and fastest vessel between Salem and Hingham for the last two weekends in October. The company's high-speed ferry service to Provincetown concludes in October, freeing up its 600-passenger boat for service between Salem and Hingham. The ferry ride between Hingham and Salem takes one hour. With traffic, especially around Halloween, the drive between Salem and Hingham could be three hours or more.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x321547697/Ferry-to-run-between-Salem-and-South-Shore-for-Halloween/print |title=Ferry to run between Salem and South Shore for Halloween |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-27 |access-date=2012-11-10}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/boats/|title=Ferry – Schedules & Maps|first=Massachusetts Bay Transportation|last=Authority|website=www.mbta.com}}

For the 2013 season, service was expected to start in the last week of May. The Salem City councilors approved a five-year contract with Boston Harbor Cruises to operate the city's commuter ferry from 2013 to 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1503760810/Salem-ferry-to-get-five-year-contract|title=Salem ferry to get five-year contract|first=Bethany|last=Bray|newspaper=Salem News|date=4 March 2013 }} Also new for the 2013 season, Boston Harbor Cruises will offer a 20 percent discount to Salem residents for non-commuter tickets. The City of Salem has approved a seasonal restaurant with a liquor license at The Salem Ferry dock to be operated by Boston Harbor Cruises. The plan is to build a {{convert|600|sqft|adj=on}} building plus patio seating.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1169349316/Ferry-operator-looks-to-open-wharf-side-eatery|title=Ferry operator looks to open wharf-side eatery|first=Bethany|last=Bray|newspaper=Salem News|date=8 May 2013 }}

The latest data from 2015 point to 61,000 riders, with around 11,000 being commuters,{{Cite web|url=https://www.salemnews.com/gallery/photos-a-ride-on-the-salem-ferry/collection_bb796bf8-5d0d-11e6-9fe2-6f2d892ef9c3.html|title=PHOTOS: A ride on the Salem Ferry|website=Salem News|date=7 August 2016 }} according to Boston Harbor Cruises, which runs the Salem Ferry.

Salem has eight stations where drivers can charge their electric cars. Four are located at the Museum Place Mall near the Peabody Essex Museum and the other four are in the South Harbor garage across the street from the Salem Waterfront Hotel.{{cite web|url=http://salem.patch.com/articles/salem-installs-vehicle-charging-stations|title=Salem Installs Vehicle Charging Stations|work=Salem, Massachusetts Patch|date=18 December 2012}} The program started in January 2013 and will be free of charge for two years, allowing people to charge their electric cars and other electric vehicles for up to six hours. This program was paid for by a grant from the state of Massachusetts due to Salem's status as a Massachusetts Green Community.{{cite web|url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-utilities-clean-tech/green-communities/|title=Green Communities|work=Energy and Environmental Affairs}}

{{Update|section|date=September 2024}}

Salem Hospital, formerly North Shore Medical Center, is located in Salem and is the second largest community hospital system in Massachusetts.{{Update inline|date=September 2024}} It offers comprehensive medical and surgical services and includes emergency/trauma departments, advanced cardiac surgery, and a birthplace. It includes Salem Hospital's main campus as well as outpatient care and urgent care. Salem Hospital's medical staff includes nearly 600 affiliated physicians representing primary care, family practice and 50 additional sub-specialties.{{Update inline|date=September 2024}}

The hospital is a general medical and surgical hospital, which has 395 beds. The hospital had 19,467 admissions in the latest year for which data are available. It performed 4,409 annual inpatient and 7,955 outpatient surgeries. Its emergency department had 90,149 visits in 2012. The helipad at Salem Hospital is a helicopter transportation hub, with multiple daily flights to hospitals all over Boston.{{cite web|url=http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_ConCommMin/2010Minutes/S02A9C6E1|title=City of Salem, MA – Approved Minutes, May 13, 2010|author=City of Salem, MA|work=salem.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626081430/http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_ConCommMin/2010Minutes/S02A9C6E1|archive-date=June 26, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_ConCommMin/2009Minutes/S0241A3AE|title=City of Salem, MA – Approved Minutes, February 12, 2009|author=City of Salem, MA|work=salem.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626063318/http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_ConCommMin/2009Minutes/S0241A3AE|archive-date=June 26, 2014}}{{Update inline|date=September 2024}}

Captain John Bertram (1796–1882) lived in Salem and is the founder of Salem Hospital. In 1873, Captain John Bertram gave a gift of $25,000 in cash, plus a brick mansion on Charter Street to create Salem Hospital. From the original building on Charter Street, Salem Hospital moved to the current location on Highland Avenue in 1917. After John Bertram died in March 1882, his widow donated their home, a mansion built in the High Style Italianate with brick and brownstone for materials at 370 Essex Street,{{cite web| url=http://www.noblenet.org/salem/home/history/| title=History – Salem Public Library| work=Salem Public Library| access-date=2018-12-24| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403181111/http://www.noblenet.org/salem/home/history/| archive-date=2018-04-03}} and this became the Salem Public Library.{{cite web| url=http://jbh.bertramhouse.org/about-us/history| title=Who was John Bertram| author=Brian Duke| work=bertramhouse.org| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708040930/http://jbh.bertramhouse.org/about-us/history| archive-date=2014-07-08}} In addition, the John Bertram House is now a home for the elderly.{{cite book |last1=Tolles |first1=Bryant Franklin Jr. |last2=Tolles |first2=Carolyn K. |title=Architecture in Salem: An Illustrated Guide |date=2004 |orig-date=1983 |location=Lebanon, New Hampshire |publisher=University Press of New England |isbn=978-1-58465-385-1 |page=16}}

The first step in the redevelopment was in 2006, when the State of Massachusetts gave Salem $1,000,000.{{cite web |url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1150826975/Salem-gets-1M-for-waterfront/print |title=Salem gets $1M for waterfront » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2006-12-18 |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202015507/http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1150826975/Salem-gets-1M-for-waterfront/print |archive-date=2013-02-02 }} The lion's share of the money—$750,000—was earmarked for acquisition of the Blaney Street landing, the private, {{convert|2|acre|sqm|adj=on}} site off Derby Street used by the ferry, and Salem Harbor. Another $200,000 was approved for the design of the new Salem wharf, a large pier planned for the landing, which officials said could be used by small cruise ships, commercial vessels and fishing boats. In June 2012, the $1.75 million was awarded by the state of Massachusetts and will launch a first phase of dredging and construction of a {{convert|100|ft|adj=on}} extension of the pier; a harborwalk to improve pedestrian access; and other lighting, landscaping and paving improvements. Dredging will allow the city to attract other ferries, excursion vessels and cruise ships of up to {{convert|250|ft}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x399013301/State-awards-1-75M-to-Blaney-Street-wharf-project |title=State awards $1.75M to Blaney Street wharf project » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}}

In October 2010, Mayor Driscoll announced that the city would formally acquire the Blaney Street parcel from Dominion Energy,{{cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dominion-to-sell-blaney-street-property-to-city-of-salem-95773339.html |title=Dominion to Sell Blaney Street Property to City of Salem |location=Massachusetts |publisher=Prnewswire.com |access-date=2012-09-03}} paving the way for the Salem Wharf project. The City of Salem secured $1.25 million from the Massachusetts Seaport Advisory Council and $2.5 million in federal grant dollars to move forward with the construction of the project. The city acquired the parcel with the help of a $1.7 million grant received from the Seaport Advisory Council.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x962027262/Salem-is-focusing-its-sights-on-shore/ |title=Salem is focusing its sights on shore » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}}

The City of Salem's plans call for a total build-out of the current Blaney Street pier, known as the Salem Wharf project. When finished, the Blaney Street pier will be home to small to medium-sized cruise ships, commercial vessels and the Salem Ferry. This project is fully engineered and permitted.{{cite web |author=City of Salem, MA |url=http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_PressReleases/I02CF1FBC |title=City of Salem, MA – City to purchase Blaney Street parcel today |publisher=Salem.com |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517040714/http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_PressReleases/I02CF1FBC |archive-date=2012-05-17 }}

In 2010, in early phase work to be finished for the 2011 season, a contractor was running underground utility cables and erecting an interim terminal building that will be used by the Salem Ferry, replacing the current trailer. The building will have an indoor bathroom—a first at the ferry landing—along with a waiting room and possibly an outdoor area with awnings. Also new for 2011 is a paved lot with about 140 parking spaces replacing the existing dirt parking lot.

Also in 2011, construction crews were building a long seawall at the Blaney Street landing, which runs from the edge of the ferry dock back toward Derby Street and along an inner harbor. This is one of the early and key pieces of the Salem Pier, which the city hopes to have completed by 2014 and is the key to eventually bring cruise ships to Salem.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x300778348/Salem-pier-work-under-way |title=Salem pier work under way » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}}{{cite web|url=http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/05/11/salem-harbor-power-station-to-close-in-2014/ |title=Salem Harbor Power Station To Close In 2014 « CBS Boston |publisher=Boston.cbslocal.com |date=2011-05-11 |access-date=2012-09-03}}

At the end of the 2011 season of the Salem Ferry, in the late fall of 2011, after the ferry season ended, contractors were to start building the first section of the T-shaped, {{convert|350|ft|adj=on}} pier. Work on that phase was scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2012. As of April 2011, the City of Salem had secured half of the $20 million and still needed to secure about $10 million in state and federal funds to complete this waterfront pier.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1324603491/Grant-of-2-5M-to-aid-wharf-makeover |title=Grant of $2.5M to aid wharf makeover » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}}

File:Salem Harbor Station Demolition.jpg

In May 2011, after years of legal battles, protests, and one recent fatal accident, the owner of the Salem Harbor Power Station announced it will close down the facility permanently.{{cite web |url=http://www.necn.com/05/12/11/Salem-Mass-power-plant-to-close/landing_business.html?blockID=521746&feedID=4209 |title=Salem, Mass. power plant to close |publisher=Necn.com |date=2011-05-12 |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627051909/http://www.necn.com/05/12/11/Salem-Mass-power-plant-to-close/landing_business.html?blockID=521746&feedID=4209 |archive-date=2014-06-27 }} Salem Harbor Station was a 60-year-old power plant that was owned by Dominion of Virginia. With the approval of ISO New England, the 60-year-old coal and oil-fired plant closed for good in June 2014.

The City of Salem was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Clean Energy Center prior to the closure of the plant. This grant money is being used to plan for the eventual re-use of the property.{{cite web|last=Guerriero |first=Lisa |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/features/x1539858512/Countdown-to-closure-Part-of-Salem-power-plant-may-still-be-needed-after-2014#axzz1V3hia1Hh |title=Dominion: Entire Salem power plant will close June 1, 2014 – Salem, Massachusetts – Salem Gazette |publisher=Wickedlocal.com |access-date=2012-09-03}} The City of Salem reached out to state and federal officials to ask for their cooperation and assistance in planning for the future and to provide money, in an effort to clean up the 62-acre site.{{cite web |url=http://www.sierraclubmass.org/issues/coal/coal2.html |title=Massachusetts Chapter Sierra Club |publisher=Sierraclubmass.org |access-date=2012-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004800/http://www.sierraclubmass.org/issues/coal/coal2.html |archive-date=2013-12-03 }}

Footprint Power,{{cite web|title=Salem Harbor Footprint|url=http://www.footprintsalemharbor.com/|website=Footprint Power|access-date=2 June 2016}} a startup New Jersey–based energy company, announced on June 29, 2012, that it had signed an agreement to acquire Salem Harbor Station from Dominion Energy of Virginia.{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/yourtown/salem/articles/2012/06/30/footprint_power_of_new_jersey_to_buy_salem_harbor_power_station/ |title=Footprint Power of New Jersey to buy Salem Harbor Power Station |publisher=Boston.com |date=2012-06-30 |access-date=2012-09-03 |first=Erin |last=Ailworth}} Footprint Power planned to demolish the 63-acre waterfront site that has towering smokestacks, a coal pile, and oil tanks. A city study estimated cleanup costs at more than $50 million. The final plan was to develop a new state-of-the-art natural gas plant on one-third of the original site, reportedly along the Fort Avenue side near the city's ferry landing. The remainder of the waterfront property eventually will be used for commercial and industrial redevelopment, the company said. "The transition will not only stabilize our property tax base, but also provide cleaner, more efficient and reliable energy." Footprint said its plans are consistent with the recommendations of a city study completed earlier that year on the future use of the power plant site.{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/id/48018872/Footprint_Power_buys_60_year_old_Mass_power_plant |title=Footprint Power buys 60 year old Mass Power Plant |website=CNBC }}{{dead link|date=November 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The City of Salem required Footprint to demolish the existing plant and stacks. "We will restore some 30 to 40 acres of our waterfront to its vibrant and prosperous past." Mayor Kim Driscoll said she had not "detailed" talks yet with Footprint, but is encouraged by discussions so far.{{cite web|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1058724309/Company-inks-deal-for-plant |title=Company inks deal for plant |publisher=Salemnews.com |date=2012-08-30 |access-date=2012-09-03}} Beginning in December 2013, there were many appeals under way from various groups who did not want the plant rebuilt. The main opponent that fought in court was the Conservation Law Foundation,{{cite web|url=http://www.clf.org/blog/tag/salem-power-plant/|title=Salem power plant Archives |work=Conservation Law Foundation}} a leading environmental advocacy group intent on blocking the plant from being built.{{cite news|url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x517513118/Plant-hit-with-another-appeal|title=Plant hit with another appeal|first=Tom|last=Dalton|newspaper=Salem News}}

{{div col}}

• Mary Abbott (1857–1904), writer, reviewer, golfer; mother of the first woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal, Margaret Abbott
• Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878), clergyman and author{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Adams, Nehemiah|year=1920}}{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Adams, Nehemiah|year=1905}}
• Frank Almy (born George Abbott, 1857–1893), convicted murderer{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-amazing-crime-of-frank-almy/156981627/ |title=Amazing Crime of Frank Almy, a Hunted Lover |first=Peter |last=Levins |newspaper=New York Daily News |page=58 |date=June 21, 1942 |accessdate=October 12, 2024 |via=newspapers.com}}
• Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), inventor of the telephone
• Frank Weston Benson (1862–1951), impressionist artistBedford (2000), p. 13.About John Benson.Bedford (2000), pp. 16–17.
• John Prentiss Benson (1865–1947), architect and maritime artist
• William Bentley (1759–1819), Unitarian minister, Salem diarist
• Harold W. Blakeley (1893–1966), U.S. Army major general{{cite book |date=1970 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=LII |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oPkpAQAAMAAJ&q=harold+whittle+blakeley+malden+1893 |location=New York, NY |publisher=James T. White and Company |page=95 |via=Google Books}}
• Nathaniel Bowditch (1773–1838), mathematician and navigator;{{cite book |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |last=Hockey |first=Thomas |year=2009 |publisher=Springer Publishing |isbn=978-0-387-31022-0 |access-date=August 22, 2012 |url=http://www.springerreference.com/docs/html/chapterdbid/58194.html}} Nathaniel Bowditch School is named in his honor
• Edward Scott Bozek (1950–2022), Olympic épée fencer
• Rick Brunson, NBA player and coach
• Sean Stellato, NFL agent and author
• William Mansfield Buffum (1832–1905), member of Arizona Territorial Legislature
• Timothy Burgess, entomologist and zoologist
• Laurie Cabot, Witchcraft high priestess and author
• Robert Ellis Cahill (1934–2005), sheriff, historian and author
• Spencer Charnas (1985–present), musician
• Joseph Hodges Choate (1832–1917), lawyer and diplomat
• Lucy Hiller Lambert Cleveland (1780–1866), writer and folk artist
• Roger Conant ({{circa|1592}}–1679), founder of Salem
• Crowninshield family, Boston Brahmins who later helped settle Salem{{cite book |title= The Driver family: a genealogical memoir of the descendants of Robert and Phebe Driver, of Lynn, Mass |author= Harriet Ruth Waters Cooke |publisher= J. Wilson and son |year=1889 |chapter = The Crowninshield Family |page= 268 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Y28tAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA268 }}{{cite book |title= Cleopatra's barge: the Crowninshield story |author= David L. Ferguson |publisher= Little, Brown |year= 1976 |isbn= 978-0-316-27895-9 |url= https://archive.org/details/cleopatrasbargec00ferg }}
• Benjamin Crowninshield (1772–1851), Congressman from Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy
• Frederick M. Davenport (1866–1956), US Congressman
• Elias Hasket Derby (1739–1799), merchant, first millionaire{{Cite web |url=http://gravematter.smugmug.com/gallery/1499497/1/71888985/Large |title=A Very Grave Matter: Gravestones and Burying Grounds of New England Ancestors Genealogy First Settlers of New Hampshire Maine Massachusetts NH ME MA- powered by SmugMug |access-date=2008-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004035659/http://gravematter.smugmug.com/gallery/1499497/1/71888985/Large |archive-date=2008-10-04 }}
• Elias Hasket Derby Jr. (1766–1826), General of Second Corp Cadets, inventor of first broadcloth loom in America
• Joseph Dixon (1799–1869), Inventor of the SLR, high temperature crucibles, the Dixon-Ticonderoga Pencil, and anti-counterfeiting methods
• Paul Douglas (1892–1976), US senator and Economist
• Joseph Horace Eaton (1815–1896), artist and military officer
• Ephraim Emerton (1851–1935), medievalist historian and Harvard chair
• John Endecott (1588–1665), governor
• Thomas Gardner ({{circa|1592}}–1674), co-founder of Salem
• Robert B. Groat (1888–1959), Printer, publisher, and politician
• John Hathorne (1641–1717), the "Hanging Judge" in Salem witch trials
• William Hathorne ({{circa|1576}}–1650), early businessman and political leader
• Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864), iconic author of The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables
• Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne (1809–1871), painter, illustrator, writer
• Mary Tileston Hemenway (1820–1894), Sponsor of the Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition
• Harriet Lawrence Hemenway (1858–1960), Founder of Massachusetts Audubon Society
• Jeff Juden, Major League Baseball pitcher
• Frederick W. Lander (1821–1862), Civil War general, wagon trail and railroad surveyor, poet
• John Larch (1914–2005), actor{{cite web|url=http://ctva.biz/US/Western/Texan.htm|title=The Texan|publisher=Classic Television Archive|access-date=January 31, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408073448/http://ctva.biz/US/Western/Texan.htm|archive-date=2012-04-08}}{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0624768/|title=Laramie: "The Confederate Express"|date=30 January 1962|publisher=Internet Movie Data Base|access-date=September 30, 2012}}
• Dudley Leavitt (1720–1762), early Harvard-educated Congregational minister,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALQsQX07_Z4C&pg=RA2-PA735 |title=The Native Ministry of New Hampshire |first= Nathan Franklin |last=Carter |publisher= Rumford Printing Co. |location= Concord, N.H. |year= 1906 |isbn=978-1-4047-0691-0 |access-date=2012-11-10}}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lifetimothypick01uphagoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifetimothypick01uphagoog/page/n196 171] |title=The Life of Timothy Pickering, Vol. II |first1= Octavius |last1=Pickering |first2=Charles Wentworth |last2=Upham |publisher=Little, Brown & Co. |location= Boston |year= 1873 |access-date=2012-11-10}} Leavitt Street named for him{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/amemorialoldand00worcgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/amemorialoldand00worcgoog/page/n18 8]|title=A Memorial of the Old and New Tabernacle, Salem, Mass., 1854–5| first = Samuel M.|last=Worcester|publisher=Crocker and Brewster|location=Boston|year=1855}}
• Mary Lou Lord, singer-songwriter; grew up in Salem
• Samuel McIntire (1757–1811), architect and woodcarver{{cite web|url=http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5401630|title=The Elias Hasket Derby Federal Carved Mahogany Side Chair|author=Christie?s|work=christies.com}}{{cite web|url=http://antiquesandartireland.com/2011/01/antique-furniture-record/|title=Antiques and Art Ireland – Art Auctions and Antique Auctions in Ireland|work=antiquesandartireland.com}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/sama/planyourvisit/upload/McTrail.pdf |publisher= National Park Service|title= Architecture Walking Trail in the Samuel McIntire Historic District}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pem.org/sites/mcintire/|title=PEM – Samuel McIntire: Carving an American Style Microsite|work=pem.org}}
• Francis W. Moore, Jr. (1808–1864), Mayor of Houston{{cite web | last=Benham | first=Priscilla Myers | url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/moore-francis-jr | access-date=January 8, 2023 | title=Francis W. Moore, Jr. | work=Handbook of Texas Online | publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}
• Rob Oppenheim (born 1980), professional golfer
• Charles Grafton Page (1812–1868), electrical inventor
• George Swinnerton Parker (1866–1952), founder of Parker Brothers
• Samuel Parris (1653–1720), minister
• Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804–1894), educator, writer, prominent Transcendentalist, advocate for women and Native Americans
• Benjamin Peirce (1809–1880), mathematician and logician, director of United States Coast Survey from 1867 to 1874
• Annie Stevens Perkins (1868–1946), writer
• Thomas Handasyd Perkins Haitian slave trader up to Slave Revolt, opium dealer, owned Perkins & Co.
• Samuel Phillips (1690–1771), first pastor of the South Church in Andover{{cite book |last1=Mooar |first1=George |title=Historical Manual of the South Church in Andover, Mass |date=1859 |publisher=Warren F. Draper |location=Andover, Massachusetts |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalmanual00south/page/n5 |access-date=26 November 2018}}
• Timothy Pickering (1745–1829), secretary of state to Washington and Adams, aide de camp to WashingtonClarfield. Timothy Pickering and the American Republic p.246{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x24MAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA105|title=Historical Collections of the Essex Institute|year=1864|last1=Institute|first1=Essex}}{{cite book |first = Garry |last = Wills |author-link = Garry Wills |year = 2003 |title = Negro President: Jefferson and the Slave Power |chapter = Before 1800 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/negropresidentje00will/page/20 20–21] |publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company |isbn = 0-618-34398-9 |chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/negropresidentje00will/page/20 }}
• Benjamin Pickman Jr. (1763–1843), early Salem merchant for whom Pickman Street is named{{Cite web|url=http://www.pem.org/museum/newmanuscripts8-08.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218203340/http://www.pem.org/museum/newmanuscripts8-08.pdf|title=Naturalization papers of Benjamin Pickman, Dudley Leavitt Pickman Papers, Phillips Library Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, pem.org/museum|archive-date=December 18, 2014}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V4yBOCV5-pEC&pg=PA161 |title=The Founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony|year=1897|last1=Smith |first1=Sarah Sprague Saunders }}
• Dudley Leavitt Pickman (1779–1846), state legislator
• Ernest R. Redmond (1883–1966), Army officer and Chief of National Guard;New York, Passenger Lists, 1820–1957, Passenger List, S.S. Calamares, January 8, 1936, entry for Ernest Redmond educated in Salem and became real estate agent;United States Federal Census Record, Ernest R. Redmond, 1910Arthur B. Jones, The Salem Fire, 1914, pp. 88–89 served on Mexican border in 1916 during Pancho Villa ExpeditionMassachusetts Adjutant General, Annual Report, 1916, p. 243
• Sarah Parker Remond (1826–1894), abolitionistDorothy Sterling, Ahead of Her Time: Abby Kelley and the Politics of Antislavery, W. W. Norton & Company, 1994, p. 276
• Aaron Richmond (1895–1965), impresario and artist manager
• Brian St. Pierre, quarterback, Boston College and NFL
• Elizabeth Elkins Sanders (1762-1851), American author and social critic
• Zach Sanford (born 1994), professional ice hockey player
• Samuel Sewall (1652–1730), magistrate
• Samuel Skelton ({{circa|1584}}–1634), first pastor of First Church in Salem, original Puritan church in North America
• Mason Stajduhar (born 1997), soccer player
• Joseph Story (1779–1845), Associate Superior Court Justice
• Hannah Swarton (1651-1708), colonial pioneer captured by Abenaki Indians and held captive for five years
• Steve Thomas, former host of PBS's This Old House
• Mary Wilder Tileston (1843–1934), author and editor of compilations
• Lydia Louisa Anna Very (1823–1901), American author and illustrator
• Bob Vila, craftsman
• Frederick Townsend Ward (1831-1862), sailor and mercenary
• Thomas A. Watson (1854–1934), assistant to Alexander Graham Bell; his name was the first phrase ever uttered over a telephone{{Citation |last=Bruce |first=Robert V. |title=Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown |page=[https://archive.org/details/bellalexandergra0000bruc/page/181 181] |isbn=0-316-11251-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/bellalexandergra0000bruc/page/181 |year=1973 }}.{{cite web |url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/457.html |title=Thomas A. Watson |author=National Inventors Hall of Fame |year=2010 |access-date=14 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923062106/http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/457.html |archive-date=23 September 2012 }}
• Daniel Webster (1782–1852), politician and orator
• Jack Welch (1935–2020), former chairman and CEO of General Electric; grew up in Salem and attended Salem High School
• Roger Williams (1603–1683), theologian

{{div col end}}

• The television series Motherland: Fort Salem is based in this place but in an alternate reality or history.
• In the DC Comics universe, the character Doctor Fate uses Salem as a base of operations.{{cite web |last1=Lapin-Bertone |first1=Joshua |title=Paging Doctor Fate: Meet DC's Sorcerer Superhero |url=https://www.dc.com/blog/2022/10/13/paging-doctor-fate-meet-d-cs-sorcerer-superhero |website=dc.com |publisher=DC Comics |access-date=31 October 2024 |date=13 October 2022 |quote=Kent Nelson largely operates out of the Tower of Fate, a sprawling structure in Salem, Massachusetts.}}{{Cite book |last=Goyer |first=David S. |title=JLA, JSA: virtue and vice |date=2002 |others=Geoff Johns, Jesús Merino, Carlos Pacheco |isbn=1-56389-937-X |location=New York |oclc=51448984}}
• Fallout 4 features Salem as a location. Players can find the Museum of Witchcraft at this location.{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/fallout-4/Salem|title=Salem|last=Graeber|first=Brendan|date=November 3, 2016|access-date=December 2, 2024|publisher=IGN}}

• Oroville, California (United States) 2007{{cite web |url=http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_7308345 |title=Chico considers establishing permanent sister city guidelines – Chico Enterprise Record |publisher=Chicoer.com |access-date=2012-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927003624/http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_7308345 |archive-date=2011-09-27 }}
• Ōta, Tokyo (Japan) 1991{{cite web |author=City of Salem, MA |url=http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_Council/ota |title=This resulted from the affiliation between Salem's Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) and the Ota Folk Museum in Japan |publisher=Salem.com |date=2008-06-17 |access-date=2012-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215235535/http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_Council/ota |archive-date=2014-12-15 }}

• USS Salem, 3 ships

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin}}

• Perley, Sidney. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120509203531/http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/Perley/ History of Salem, Massachusetts in Three Volumes]. Full images at University of Virginia eText Center and the Salem Witch Trial Documentary Archive and Transcription Project.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518122552/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_pages.asp?ImageName=SALEM.jpg&atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=ESSEX+COUNTY&atlas=ESSEX+COUNTY+1795&atlas_desc=ESSEX+COUNTY+1795&pageprefix= 1795 Map of Salem].
• Saunders, Jonathan P. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518121524/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_pages.asp?ImageName=SALEM.jpg&atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=ESSEX+COUNTY&atlas=ESSEX+COUNTY+1830&atlas_desc=ESSEX+COUNTY+1830&pageprefix= 1832 Map of Salem].
• Beer, D. G. 1872 Atlas of Essex County [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518124248/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_pages.asp?ImageName=PLATE_0118.jpg&atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=ESSEX+COUNTY&atlas=ESSEX+COUNTY+1872&atlas_desc=ESSEX+COUNTY+1872&pageprefix= Map of Salem. Plate 118].
• Walker, George H. 1884 Atlas of Essex County [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518124221/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_pages.asp?ImageName=PAGE_0016.jpg&atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=ESSEX+COUNTY&atlas=ESSEX+COUNTY+1884&atlas_desc=ESSEX+COUNTY+1884&pageprefix= Salem South. Plate 16. Salem-Jail-to-hold-first-open-house] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518121935/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_pages.asp?ImageName=PAGE_0017.jpg&atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=ESSEX+COUNTY&atlas=ESSEX+COUNTY+1884&atlas_desc=ESSEX+COUNTY+1884&pageprefix= Salem North. Plate 17].
• Various [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518121446/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases.asp?atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=SALEM&atlName=&PAGEPREFIX=&submittype= Salem Atlases].
• Hopkins, C. M. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518121216/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_results.asp?atlastype=Atlases&atlas=SALEM%201874&pageprefix=&atlastown=SALEM Atlas of Salem, Massachusetts]. Published in 1874.
• Sanborn Map Co. [http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_results.asp?atlastype=Atlases&atlas=SALEM%201890%20-1903&pageprefix=&atlastown=SALEM Map of Salem Showing Area Destroyed by Fire June 25, 1914].
• Atlas of Salem for 1890–1903 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518124239/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_results.asp?ImageType=index&atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=SALEM&atlas=SALEM+1890+-1903&atlas_desc=SALEM+1890+-1903 Index Map]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518063326/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_pages.asp?atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=SALEM&atlas=SALEM%201890%20-1903&atlas_desc=SALEM%201890%20-1903&pageprefix= Page selection].
• 1897 Atlas of Salem Massachusetts [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518063326/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_pages.asp?atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=SALEM&atlas=SALEM%201890%20-1903&atlas_desc=SALEM%201890%20-1903&pageprefix= Index Map].
• Walker. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518063326/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_pages.asp?atlastype=Atlases&atlastown=SALEM&atlas=SALEM%201890%20-1903&atlas_desc=SALEM%201890%20-1903&pageprefix= 1911 Atlas of Salem, Massachusetts].
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110518124314/http://www.salemdeeds.com/atlases_results.asp?atlastype=Atlases&atlas=SALEM%201906%20-1938&pageprefix=&atlastown=SALEM Salem 1906–1938 Index or Key Map].
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081121163841/http://www.ma-vitalrecords.org/EssexCounty/Salem/ Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts to 1849]. Published 1916, 1918, 1924, 1925. Transcribed and put online by John Slaugher.

{{Refend}}

• {{cite book |last=Buckingham |first=Joseph Tinker |title=Specimens of newspaper literature: with personal memoirs, anecdotes, and reminiscences |volume=I |author-link=Joseph T. Buckingham |publisher=Boston : Charles C. Little and James Brown |year=1850 |url=https://archive.org/details/specimensofnewsp01buckuoft/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=buckingham1}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dilworth |first=Richardson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0dL7vPC8G7YC&pg=PA28 |title=Cities in American Political History |date=September 13, 2011 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-0-8728-9911-7 |archive-date=April 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418010051/https://books.google.com/books?id=0dL7vPC8G7YC&pg=PA28 |url-status=live |ref=dilworth2011}}
• {{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Isaiah |title=The history of printing in America, with a biography of printers |volume=I |publisher=New York, B. Franklin |year=1874 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofprintin01thom |ref=thomas1874a}}

{{See also|Timeline of Salem, Massachusetts#Bibliography|l1=Bibliography of the history of Salem, Massachusetts}}

• {{cite book|last=Booth |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aNpAgVV1p7oC |title=Death of an empire: the rise and murderous fall of Salem, America's richest city |location=New York |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |year= 2011 |isbn=978-0-312-54038-8}}
• Goff, John, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110812045059/http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/news/lifestyle/columnists/x2133874147#axzz1gexycai4 "Looking at Salem's beginnings: The White and Gardner family contributions"], Salem Gazette, GateHouse News Service story, December 29, 2007
• {{cite book |last=Hoffer |first=Peter Charles |title=The Devil's Disciples: Makers of the Salem Witchcraft Trials |location=Baltimore |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8018-5200-8 }}
• {{cite journal|last=Morris |first=Richard J. |jstor=366584 |title=Redefining the Economic Elite in Salem, Massachusetts, 1759–1799: A Tale of Evolution, Not Revolution |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=73 |issue= 4 |date=December 2000 |pages=603–624|doi=10.2307/366584 }}
• National Park Service, [http://www.planet-realart.com/graphic/print/Salem.pdf "Salem Maritime Salem Maritime National Historic Site: Official Map and Guide"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113022238/http://planet-realart.com/graphic/print/Salem.pdf |date=2016-01-13 }}, United States Department of the Interior
• {{cite book |last=Nevins |first=Winfield S. |title=The Witches of Salem |location=Stamford |publisher=Longmeadow Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-6810-0603-4 }} (originally published in 1892)
• {{cite book|last=Norton |first= Mary Beth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y2ZeU1RMYK0C |title=In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 |location= New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year= 2002 |isbn=0-375-40709-X}}
• {{cite book |last= Saville |first= Susanne |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8jA2gwBdsIkC |title= Hidden History of Salem |location= Charleston, SC |publisher= The History Press |date= 2010 |isbn= 978-1-59629-062-4 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Schwartz, George H. Collecting the Globe: The Salem East India Marine Society Museum (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2020) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=57632 online review]
• {{cite book|last=Smith |first= Bonnie Hurd |title=Salem Women's Heritage Trail |location= Salem, MA |publisher= Salem Chamber of Commerce |year= 2000 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130623045238/http://shop.historysmiths.com/Salem-Womens-Heritage-Trail-0-9704784-0-2.htm |url=http://shop.historysmiths.com/Salem-Womens-Heritage-Trail-0-9704784-0-2.htm |archive-date=2013-06-23}}
• {{cite book |last=Smith-Dalton |first=Maggi |title=A history of spiritualism and the occult in Salem: the rise of witch city |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=History Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-60949-551-0 |oclc=808684425 }}
• Smith-Dalton, Maggi (Salem History Society) "Stories & shadows from Salem's past : Naumkeag notations", American Chronicles Series, Charleston, SC : History Press, 2010.https://www.worldcat.org/title/stories-shadows-from-salems-past-naumkeag-notations/oclc/642511300&referer=brief_results
• Vickers, Daniel, and Vince Walsh. "Young men and the sea: The sociology of seafaring in eighteenth‐century Salem, Massachusetts", Social history (1999) 24#1 pp: 17–38.
• Wagner, E.J., [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/A-Murder-in-Salem.html "A Murder in Salem"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217074743/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/A-Murder-in-Salem.html |date=2011-12-17 }}, Smithsonian magazine, November 2010

{{Commons category}}

{{AmCyc Poster|Salem (Massachusetts)|Salem, Massachusetts}}

{{Wikivoyage|Salem (Massachusetts)}}

• {{Official website|http://www.salem.com/ }}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150924093712/http://www.salemwomenshistory.com/Home.html salemwomenshistory.com]}}
• [http://library.albany.edu/preservation/brittle_bks/Crawford_Familiesv1/Chpt9.pdf The Cabot Family] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408100500/https://library.albany.edu/preservation/brittle_bks/Crawford_Familiesv1/Chpt9.pdf |date=2019-04-08 }}
• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Salem (Massachusetts)|display=Salem, a city and one of the county-seats (Lawrence is the other) of Essex county, Massachusetts |short=x}}

{{Essex County, Massachusetts}}

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{{Massachusetts county seats}}

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Category:1620s establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Category:1626 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies

Category:Cities in Essex County, Massachusetts

Category:Cities in Massachusetts

Category:County seats in Massachusetts

Category:Populated coastal places in Massachusetts

Category:Populated places established in 1626

Category:Salem witch trials

Category:American witchcraft