Geography

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 south end of town, along with Strong Water Brook, which feeds Spring Pond at the town's southwest 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.

History

Salem is located at the mouth of the Naumkeag River at the site of an Indian village and trading center. European colonists first settled it in 1626, when a company of fishermen arrived from Cape Ann led by Roger Conant. Conant's leadership provided the stability to survive the first two years, but John Endecott replaced him by order of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Conant graciously stepped aside and was granted 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land in compensation. These "New Planters" and the "Old Planters agreed to cooperate, in large part due to the diplomacy of Conant and Endecott. In recognition of this peaceful transition to the new government, the name of the settlement was changed to Salem, a hellenized form of the Hebrew word for "peace" (שלום, shalom).

In 1628, Endecott ordered that the Great House be moved from Cape Ann, reassembling it on Washington Street north of Church Street. Higginson wrote that "we found a faire house newly built for the Governor" which was remarkable for being two stories high. 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. 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.

In 1639, Endecott was one of the signers on 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. Endecott already had a close relationship with Skelton, having been converted by him, and Endecott considered him as his spiritual father.

Title page of A Modest Enquiry Into the Nature of Witchcraft by John Hale (Boston, 1702)

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 glass (mirror) and egg. The Salem Witchcraft Trials began in 1692, and 20 people were executed as a result of the accusations of witchcraft. 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.

William Hathorne was a prosperous businessman in early Salem and became one of its leading citizens of the early colonial period. 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. 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 witches to death.

Tourism

Witch-related tourism

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. 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.

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, a reminder that we are capable of these things. This according to Shea, Andrea (July 19, 2017). "Salem, Mass., Dedicates Memorial to Witches Who Died On the Gallows". National Public Radio.

Other tourist attractions

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.

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.

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.

The Friendship of Salem replica docked off of Derby Street

In 2000, the replica tall ship Friendship of Salem was finished and sailed to Salem Harbor, where she sits today. The Friendship of Salem is a reconstruction of a 171-foot (52 m) 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.

In 2006, with the assistance of a 1.6 million dollar grant and additional funds provided by the City of Salem, 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.

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.

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 1,100-foot (340 m) walkway extends from the area of the Salem Fire Station to the Salem Waterfront Hotel.

The Peabody Essex Museum

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 the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States.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.

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.

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. The Misery Islands which are a nature reserve were established in 1935 and located in Salem Sound and are managed by the Trustees of Reservations.

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.

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. 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. The Old Salem Jail complex was renamed 50 Saint Peter Street and is now private property, with private residences.

Salem Willows

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.

• Crowninshield-Bentley House (c. 1727–30)

• Gedney House (c. 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

• 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,[157] 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 (c. 1805), home of the founder of modern navigation

• Nathaniel Hawthorne Birthplace (c. 1730–45)

• Peabody Essex Museum (1799), oldest continually operated museum in America

• Phillips Library

• Pickering House (c. 1651), Broad Street

• Pioneer Village (c. 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 WW2 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

Salem State University

Salem State University 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; its five campuses encompass 115 acres (0.47 km2) and include 33 buildings. The Salem State Foundation hosts an annual lecture series, featuring high-profile speakers from around the world. was originally built in the 1950s and in January 2014 a $18,600,000 project was announced with development.

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.

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 115 acres (0.47 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. 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.

On July 28, 2010 Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick signed into law a bill that transforms Salem State College into Salem State University.

Primary and secondary education

Public elementary schools include the Bates, Carlton, Horace Mann, Nathaniel Bowditch, Saltonstall and Witchcraft Heights schools. Collins Middle School is located on Highland Avenue. Nathaniel Bowditch School, and Salem High School are located on Wilson Street. Salem Academy Charter School and Bentley Academy Charter School are also public schools. The Bowditch School has grades K-8. Private schools are also located in the city, including two independent, alternative schools, The Phoenix School and the Greenhouse School.