Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in
Essex County,
Massachusetts,
United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and
Lawrence are the
county seats of
Essex County. Home to
Salem State College,
Salem Willows Park and the
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem is a residential and tourist area.
Many people associate the city with the
Salem Witch Trials of
1692, which the city embraces both as a source of tourism and culture - police cars are adorned with witch logos, a local public school is known as the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School, the
Salem High School football team is named The Witches, and Gallows Hill, a site of numerous public hangings, is currently used as a playing field for various sports.
Tourists know Salem as a mix of important historical sites,
New Age and
Wiccan boutiques, and kitschy Halloween-witch-themed attractions.
Native Americans called the area 'Naumkeag', meaning 'eel land'. Salem was founded at the mouth of the Naumkeag River in
1626 by a company of fishermen from
Cape Ann led by
Roger Conant, and incorporated in
1629. The name 'Salem' is related to the
Hebrew word 'shalom' and
Arabic word 'salam', both meaning 'peace'. Conant was later supplanted by
John Endicott, the governor assigned by the
Massachusetts Bay Company. Salem originally included much of the
North Shore, including
Marblehead, set off in
1649. Most of the accused in the Salem Witch Trials lived in nearby 'Salem Village', now
Danvers. Salem Village also included
Peabody and parts of present-day
Beverly.
Middleton,
Topsfield,
Wenham and
Manchester-by-the-Sea, too, were once parts of Salem.
On
February 26,
1775, patriots raised the
drawbridge at the North River, preventing
British Colonel Alexander Leslie and his 300 troops from seizing stores and
ammunition hidden in North Salem. During the
Revolution, the town became a center for
privateering. By
1790, Salem was the sixth largest city in the country, and a world famous
seaport -- particularly in the
China trade.
Codfish was exported to the
West Indies and
Europe.
Sugar and
molasses were imported from the West Indies,
tea from China, and
pepper from
Sumatra. Salem ships also visited
Africa,
Russia,
Japan and
Australia. During the
War of 1812, privateering resumed.
Prosperity would leave the city with a wealth of fine
architecture, including
Federal style mansions designed by
Samuel McIntire, for whom the city's largest historic district is named. Incorporated a city in
1836, Salem adopted a city
seal in
1839 with the motto "Divitis Indiae usque ad ultimum sinum" -- "To the farthest port of the rich East."
Nathaniel Hawthorne was overseer of the port from
1846 until
1849. He worked in the Customs House near Pickering Wharf, his setting for the beginning of
The Scarlet Letter. In
1858, an
amusement park was established at
Salem Willows, a peninsula jutting into the harbor.
But shipping would decline through the
19th century. Salem and its
silting harbor were increasingly eclipsed by
Boston and
New York. Consequently, the city turned to manufacturing. Industries included
tanneries, shoe factories and the
Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company. Large parts of the
mill town were destroyed in the
Great Salem Fire of 1914, which began in the
Korn Leather Factory. More than 400 homes burned, leaving 3,500 families homeless. But much of Salem's architectural legacy survived, helping it develop as a center for tourism.
|
Williams House in c. 1910 |
Notable Inhabitants:*
Nehemiah Adams, clergyman and author
*
Frank W. Benson, artist
*
Nathaniel Bowditch, mathematician, navigator
*
Roger Conant, founder of Salem
*
Elias Hasket Derby, merchant
*
John Endicott, governor
*
Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer
*
Samuel McIntire, architect & woodcarver
*
George Swinton Parker, founder of
Parker Brothers*
Samuel Parris, minister
*
Timothy Pickering, secretary of state
*
Samuel Sewall, magistrate
*
Roger Williams, theologian
*
Laurie Cabot,
Wiccan high priestess
Image:George Peabody House, Salem, MA.jpg|Peabody House in c. 1905Image:Lafayette Street, Salem, MA.jpg|Lafayette Street in 1910Image:Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company.jpg|Naumkeag Mills in c. 1910Since the decline of the city's industrial base, tourism has become an increasingly important part of Salem's economy. Tourism based on the 1692 witch trials dates back to at least the first half of the 20th Century, when dry goods merchant Daniel Low sold souvenir spoons with witch images. Such tourism expanded significantly in the 1970s, when the television comedy
Bewitched filmed several episodes there. Witch-related tourism expanded significantly in the 1990s, and the city added an official "Haunted Happenings" celebration during the October tourist season.
In recent years, tourism has been a significant source of tension in the city, with some residents arguing the city should downplay witch tourism and market itself as a more upscale cultural center. Several steps have been taken in this direction, including the designation of a portion of the city's waterfront as a National Historic Site (the country's first), the completion in 2000 of the replica tall ship "Friendship," and the 2003 expansion of the
Peabody Essex Museum, designed by architect
Moshe Safdie. In 2005, the city's semi-official tourist agency, Destination Salem, unveiled a new marketing campaign for the city, which de-emphasized witch tourism.
In 2005, the conflict came to a head over plans by the cable television network
TV Landto 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.
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. Some felt that the statue trivialized history by encouraging visitors to recall a
sitcom rather than the tragic
Salem witch trials. Local resident John Carr, a former member of the city's Historical Commission, was quoted in the local newspaper (and later in
Time magazine) as saying 'it's like TV Land going to
Auschwitz and proposing to erect a statue of
Colonel Klink'. The statue was eventually approved and has generated little controversy since its unveiling.
Salem is located at (42.516845, -70.898503).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 46.8
km² (18.1
mi²). 21.0 km² (8.1 mi²) of it is land and 25.8 km² (9.9 mi²) of it (55.09%) is water. Located beside
Massachusetts Bay and the
Atlantic Ocean, Salem is bordered on the north by the North River and on the south by the Naumkeag River, while the center is drained by the South River
As of the
census of 2000, there were 40,407 people, 17,492 households, and 9,708 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,926.1/km² (4,986.0/mi²). There were 18,175 housing units at an average density of 866.3/km² (2,242.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 85.37%
White, 3.15%
African American, 0.22%
Native American, 2.00%
Asian, 0.05%
Pacific Islander, 6.74% from
other races, and 2.47% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 11.24% of the population.
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. 34.9% of all households 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.
|
Pickering House in c. 1905 |
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.
*
Nathaniel Bowditch House (c.
1805)
*
Crowninshield-Bentley House (c.
1727-
1730)
*
John Tucker Daland House (
1851)
*
Gedney House (c.
1665)
*
Nathaniel Hawthorne Birthplace (c.
1730-
1745)
*
The House of the Seven Gables (
1668)
* Misery Islands
*
Peabody Essex Museum (
1799) -- A major museum of Asian art and culture, as well as a leading museum of 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 United States.
* Stephen Phillips Memorial Trust House (
1800 &
1821)
*
Pickering House, Broad Street (c.
1651)
*
Ropes Mansion (late
1720s)
*
Salem Maritime National Historic Site - The only remaining intact waterfront from the U.S. age of sail.
* Salem Willows Park (1858)
*
In
King of the Hill, there was a reference to Salem, Massachusetts.
*
In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, Mary Beth Norton, Knopf, 2002, hardcover, 432 pages, ISBN 037540709x
*
City of Salem*
Salem Public Library*
Salem State College*
Salem Willows Park*
SalemWeb*
Salem Police Department*
Stephen Phillips Memorial Trust House
