A harbor city on Massachusetts Bay, settled as Naumkeag in 1626, whose captains sailed past the Capes to the far side of the world and came home to build Derby Wharf, the Custom House and the McIntire houses of Chestnut Street.

Essex County · Record checked October 12, 2026

44,480Population2020 census1
1626SettledRoger Conant's fishermen, from Cape Ann1
1836Became a citythe second chartered city in Massachusetts2
350Rounded the CapesSalem masters and supercargoes in the East India Marine Society by 18673
46National Registerplaces, all still standing4

Salem on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Salem, Massachusetts in 2026, with Salem Neck, Bakers Island, Salem Harbor and the city's streets

2026

Salem today

By KNOWOL

Derby Street, Essex Street, Bridge Street, Lafayette Street, North Street and Highland Avenue across the city, out to Salem Neck, Bakers Island and the harbor, with Flax Pond, Black Joe Pond and Camp Lion printed on it.2

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Salem

Salem town and Salem Village

The witch trials of 1692 are the part of Salem's past most people know, but much of that story belongs to Salem Village, the farming parish that's now Danvers. In 1861 an Essex Institute writer went through the court records and found warrants against thirty-two people in old Salem. Thirty were arrested, and all but five belonged to the village. Nineteen people were hanged, at a spot identified in 2016 as Proctor's Ledge, near the foot of Gallows Hill in today's Salem and now a memorial. The Witch House on Essex Street, Judge Jonathan Corwin's home, is one of the few buildings still standing with direct ties to the trials. The village farmers and the harbor merchants never quite got along, and in 1752 the village went its own way as Danvers.51267

Only men who had rounded the Capes

In 1799 a group of Salem captains and supercargoes founded the East India Marine Society, and you couldn't simply join. A member had to have sailed past Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope as master or supercargo, and by 1867 three hundred and fifty Salem men had qualified. Their collection grew into today's Peabody Essex Museum. The ship George was known as the Salem School Ship, because more boys who started out on her rose to be masters than on any other vessel. Joseph Peabody owned eighty-three vessels in his long life, and John Bertram's were the last to come home to Salem from beyond the Cape of Good Hope. In 1900 the Essex Institute reported that a dealer in ship paintings had never once managed to buy one owned in Salem.328910

The bridge Washington stopped to see

Salem's bridges had to let the ships through. The North Bridge, where townspeople raised the draw against Colonel Leslie's troops on February 26, 1775, is called by an 1878 county history probably the earliest bridge in the country built with a draw for masted vessels. When the Cabots and their partners proposed a bridge to Beverly, Salem's town meeting voted against it, and opponents warned that forty vessels would be driven from the North River. The bridge opened anyway on September 24, 1788, one of the modern wonders of its day, and on his northern tour the next year George Washington got off his horse to watch the draw work. A wit named Blythe summed up the quarrel: there never was a bridge built without railings on both sides.1121213

Through the years

24 moments from 1626 to today.

  1. 1626Roger Conant and a company of fishermen from Cape Ann settle at Naumkeag.1
  2. 1628John Endecott arrives to take charge, and the settlement is renamed Salem.2
  3. 1629The church chooses its pastor and teacher by names written on notes, which an 1892 history calls the first ballot on the continent.14
  4. 1637The first militia muster on Salem Common lays the groundwork for the National Guard.1
  5. 1643Work begins on the first fort on Winter Island, later named Fort Pickering.2
  6. 1668The earliest part of the House of the Seven Gables is built for Captain John Turner.15
  7. 1688Thomas Maule builds Salem's first Quaker meeting house.16
  8. 1692The witch trials; nearly all of those arrested belong to Salem Village, today's Danvers.5
  9. 1714The proprietors of the common lands keep Winter Island for the fishery.17
  10. 1752Salem Village and the Middle Parish are set off from Salem as Danvers.7
  11. 1775Townspeople raise the North Bridge draw on February 26, and Colonel Leslie's troops turn back.2
  12. 1788The bridge to Beverly opens on September 24, over the town meeting's objections.12
  13. 1791A light station is set up on Bakers Island.2
  14. 1799Captains and supercargoes found the East India Marine Society, and the frigate Essex is built on Winter Island.2
  15. 1805Samuel McIntire's Hamilton Hall goes up on Chestnut Street.2
  16. 1817The new town hall and market on Derby Square opens to the public on July 8, as President Monroe visits.18
  17. 1819The Custom House, Salem's thirteenth, is built on Derby Street.19
  18. 1826Salem's first two white lead works start up in South Salem.20
  19. 1836Salem becomes a city on March 23.1
  20. 1846Nathaniel Hawthorne begins three years overseeing the port from the Custom House.1
  21. 1847The Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company finishes its first mill.21
  22. 1858Salem Willows becomes a public park.2
  23. 1914The Great Salem Fire destroys more than 400 homes.1
  24. 1938Salem Maritime becomes the first National Historic Site in the country.2

Places to see

Places worth a visit in Salem today.

  • Salem Maritime National Historical ParkDerby Street. Derby Wharf, Derby House and the Custom House.Visit their website
  • Custom HouseDerby Street. Where Hawthorne oversaw the port.Visit their website
  • Peabody Essex MuseumEssex Street. Grew from the East India Marine Society.Visit their website
  • Witch House310 Essex Street. Judge Jonathan Corwin's home, a city museum.Visit their website
  • Hamilton HallChestnut Street. Samuel McIntire's hall of 1805.Visit their website
  • Salem CommonWashington Square. Where the first militia muster drilled.
  • Salem Public Library370 Essex Street. The Bertram family's old mansion.Visit their website
  • Salem State UniversityLafayette Street. Founded in 1854 as Salem Normal School.Visit their website
  • Winter IslandOff Salem Neck. Fort Pickering and the frigate Essex's shipyard.
  • Salem WillowsSalem Neck. Willows of 1801, a park since 1858.

On the National Register

16 of the 46 places in Salem on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters. See the full list of National Register places in Salem.4

  • Fort Pickering

    Listed 1973 · Winter Island

    Work on the first fort on Winter Island began in 1643, and it guarded Salem Harbor from the Anglo-Dutch Wars through World War II. It's named for Timothy Pickering, who was born in Salem.22

  • Charter Street Historic District

    Listed 1975 · Bounded by Liberty, Derby, Central, and Charter Sts.

    A small remnant of the oldest part of Salem: the Charter Street Cemetery, also called the Burying Point, the Pickman House of 1664 and the Grimshawe House.23

  • Salem Common Historic District

    Listed 1976 · Bounded roughly by St. Peter's, Bridge, and Derby Sts. and Collins Cove

    The houses around Salem Common, which was partly a swamp in its early days and had no fence until 1802, when townspeople raised money to improve it. Its iron fence dates from 1850.24

  • House of the Seven Gables Historic District

    National Historic Landmark

    Built 1668 · Listed 1973 · 54 Turner St. at Derby and Hardy Sts.

    The earliest part of the house was built in 1668 for Captain John Turner, a Salem sea captain and merchant. Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1851 novel made it famous, and it's now a museum.15

    Visit their website

  • John Ward House

    National Historic Landmark

    Built 1684 · Listed 1968 · 132 Essex St.

    Begun in 1684 on what is now St. Peter Street, the house was split in two and rolled three blocks to its present site in 1910, then carefully restored. It was one of the first colonial houses in the country opened as a museum.25

    Visit their website

  • Nathaniel Bowditch House

    National Historic Landmark

    Built about 1760 · Listed 1966 · North St.

    Nathaniel Bowditch, the founder of modern navigation, lived here from 1811 to 1823. Preservationists saved the house from a road widening, and it was moved to its present spot on North Street in 1944.26

  • Derby Waterfront District

    Listed 1976 · Derby St. from Herbert St. to Block House Sq., waterfront streets between Kosciusko and Blaney Sts.

    The waterfront along Derby Street from the Salem Maritime site east to Fort Avenue, with its Federal houses and the House of the Seven Gables.27

  • Salem Maritime National Historic Site

    Listed 1966 · Derby St.

    Twelve historic structures on about 9 acres of waterfront, among them the Derby House of 1762, Derby Wharf and the Custom House of 1819. It became the first National Historic Site in the country in 1938 and a National Historical Park in 2025.19

    Visit their website

  • Peirce-Nichols House

    National Historic Landmark

    Built about 1782 · Listed 1968 · 80 Federal St.

    Jerathmiel Peirce, a leather dresser turned shipowner, had Samuel McIntire design this house about 1782, early in McIntire's career. It's counted an early masterwork of one of the country's first recognized master builders.28

    Visit their website

  • Gardiner-Pingree House

    National Historic Landmark

    Built 1804 · Listed 1970 · 128 Essex St.

    Samuel McIntire built this brick mansion in 1804 for John and Sarah Gardner, and it's judged a masterpiece of Federal architecture. The Peabody Essex Museum owns it.29

    Visit their website

  • Chestnut Street District

    Listed 1973 · Bounded roughly by Broad, Flint, Federal, and Summer Sts.; also roughly bounded by Bridge, Lynn, Beckford, and River Sts.

    Great Federal houses built with the profits of the China trade, many of them the work of Samuel McIntire, who had his house and workshop on Summer Street. The first of the big brick houses, the Thomas Saunders House at 39 Chestnut, went up in 1805.30

  • Hamilton Hall

    National Historic Landmark

    Built 1805 · Listed 1970 · 9 Chestnut St.

    Samuel McIntire designed this hall, built in 1805 to 1807 as a social space for Salem's leading families and named for Alexander Hamilton. It still holds balls, weddings and lectures.31

    Visit their website

  • Joseph Story House

    National Historic Landmark

    Built 1811 · Listed 1973 · 26 Winter St.

    Built in 1811, this house was home from then until his death of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Joseph Story (1779 to 1845), a leading jurist of the time, and an influential figure in the early years of Harvard Law School. A well-preserved example of Federal architecture executed in brick, it is a National Historic Landmark.32

  • Downtown Salem District

    Listed 1972 · Derby Sq. and 215-231 Essex, 121-145 Washington, and 6-34 Front Sts.; also roughly bounded by Church, Central, New Derby, and Washington Sts.

    First listed in 1972 as the cluster of buildings around the Old Town Hall on Derby Square, it was enlarged in 1983 to take in much of the historic downtown, including City Hall and the Joshua Ward House.33

  • Baker's Island Light Station

    Built 1820 · Listed 1976 · East of Salem on Baker's Island

    A light station was set up on Bakers Island in 1791. The round stone tower dates from 1820, and until 1926 it stood beside a shorter tower, the pair known as Ma and Pa.34

  • Peabody Museum of Salem

    National Historic Landmark

    Built 1825 · Listed 1966 · 161 Essex St.

    East India Marine Hall was built on Essex Street in 1825 for the collection of the East India Marine Society, founded in 1799. It's now part of the Peabody Essex Museum and holds what is called the nation's oldest continuously operating museum collection.35

    Visit their website

In their words

“Many a Salem family of today looks back with pride to a member who figured as cabin boy, ordinary seaman, able seaman, mate, master, supercargo or owner.”

George Granville Putnam, Salem vessels and their voyages, 192136

“Beneath its canopy of elms Chestnut Street, as one might say, is admirably 'hung' with masterpieces of a significant age.”

A loiterer in New England, 1919, on Chestnut Street37

“Her people are cultivated and social, and no pleasanter community could be desired for a home.”

Standard history of Essex County, 187838

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Salem, Massachusetts, Wikipedia
  2. Map of Salem, Massachusetts in 2026, KNOWOL
  3. The ships and sailors of old Salem (1909), on the East India Marine Society, Internet Archive
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in Salem, Massachusetts, Wikipedia
  5. Essex Institute historical collections, vol. 3 (1861), on who was arrested in 1692, Internet Archive
  6. Standard history of Essex County, Massachusetts (1878), on the farmers and merchants of old Salem, Internet Archive
  7. History of Essex County, Massachusetts (1888), on the setting off of Danvers, Internet Archive
  8. Salem vessels and their voyages (1924), on the ship George, Internet Archive
  9. The fifth half century of the landing of John Endicott at Salem (1879), on Salem's merchants, Internet Archive
  10. Annual report of the Essex Institute (1900), on Salem's ship pictures, Internet Archive
  11. Standard history of Essex County, Massachusetts (1878), on the North Bridge, Internet Archive
  12. History of Essex County, Massachusetts (1888), on the Beverly bridge, Internet Archive
  13. History of Essex County, Massachusetts (1888), on the bridge quarrel, Internet Archive
  14. Massachusetts of today (1892), on the first ballot, Internet Archive
  15. House of the Seven Gables Historic District, Wikipedia
  16. The Essex antiquarian, vol. 7 (1903), on the first Quaker meeting house, Internet Archive
  17. The Essex antiquarian, vol. 9, on Winter Island and the fishery, Internet Archive
  18. A loiterer in New England (1919), on Derby Square, Internet Archive
  19. Salem Maritime National Historic Site, Wikipedia
  20. Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts (1922), on white lead, Internet Archive
  21. History of Essex County, Massachusetts (1888), on the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company, Internet Archive
  22. Fort Pickering, Wikipedia
  23. Charter Street Historic District, Wikipedia
  24. Salem Common Historic District, Wikipedia
  25. John Ward House, Wikipedia
  26. Nathaniel Bowditch House, Wikipedia
  27. Derby Waterfront District, Wikipedia
  28. Peirce-Nichols House, Wikipedia
  29. Gardiner-Pingree House, Wikipedia
  30. Chestnut Street District, Wikipedia
  31. Hamilton Hall, Wikipedia
  32. Joseph Story House, Wikipedia
  33. Downtown Salem District, Wikipedia
  34. Baker's Island Light Station, Wikipedia
  35. Peabody Museum of Salem, Wikipedia
  36. Salem vessels and their voyages, by George Granville Putnam, Essex Institute historical collections, vol. 57 (1921), Internet Archive
  37. A loiterer in New England (1919), on Chestnut Street, Internet Archive
  38. Standard history of Essex County, Massachusetts (1878), on Salem, Internet Archive