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.^[1] Home to Salem State College, the Salem Willows Park and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem is a residential and tourist area which includes the neighborhoods of Salem Neck, South Salem and North Salem, and Witchcraft Heights.

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. Fictional works concerning the witch trials have been set in Salem.

Salem was one of the most significant seaports in early America. It boasts the first National Historic Site designated by Congress, Salem Maritime National Historic Site, which protects Salem's historic waterfront.

Tourists know Salem as a mix of important historical sites, New Age and Wiccan boutiques, and kitschy Halloween or witch-themed attractions. The most recent (and controversial) addition of significance is a bronze statue of the Samantha Stephens character (played by actress Elizabeth Montgomery) of the "Bewitched" television program in Salem's Lappin Park on June 15, 2005.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Education
5 Transportation
6 Tourism
7 Points of interest
8 Notable residents
9 Sister Cities
10 Further reading
11 References
12 External links

[edit] History

The House of the Seven Gables.

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 Endecott, the governor assigned by the Massachusetts Bay Company. Salem originally included much of the North Shore, including Marblehead, set off in 1649. A delusional Dorothy Talbye was hanged in 1638 for murdering her daughter, as at the time Massachusetts's common law made no distinction between insanity (or mental illness) and criminal behavior.^[2] 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. 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 and egg.

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 one of America's first architects Samuel McIntire, for whom the city's largest historic district is named. These collection of homes and mansions from Colonial America are now the greatest concentrations of notable pre-1900 domestic structures in the United States.

Incorporated a city on March 23, 1836 [1], Salem adopted a city seal in 1839 with the motto "Divitis Indiae usque ad ultimum sinum", Latin for "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. It should be noted that up until the War of 1812, the port of Salem Massachusetts was the center of trade in America.

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. More than 400 homes burned in the Great Salem Fire of 1914, leaving 3,500 families homeless from a blaze that began in the Korn Leather Factory. The fire ripped into one part of the city but historical places including Chestnut Street and City Hall were spared by the fire, leaving much of Salem's architectural legacy intact, which helped it develop as a center for tourism.

Peabody House, c. 1905

Salem Harbor in 1907

Lafayette Street in 1910

Naumkeag Mills, c. 1910

[edit] Geography

Salem is located at 42°31′1″N, 70°53′55″W (42.516845, -70.898503).^[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.1 square miles (46.8 km²), of which, 8.1 square miles (21.0 km²) of it is land and 9.9 square miles (25.8 km²) of it (55.09%) is water. Salem Harbor faces north onto the Danvers River, a tidal inlet of Massachusetts Bay. There are two ways into Boston, Commuter Rail [2] or Salem High Speed Ferry [3].

[edit] Demographics

Essex Street in c. 1920

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 40,407 people, 17,492 households, and 9,708 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,986.0 people per square mile (1,926.1/km²). There were 18,175 housing units at an average density of 2,242.7/sq mi (866.3/km²). 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.

[edit] Education

Salem State College is the largest state college in Massachusetts (note that State Colleges are separate from the University of Massachusetts system), with 7,000 undergraduates and 2,500 graduate students; its campus comprises 108 acres and 33 buildings. It hosts a regular Speaker Series, featuring major invited speakers.

Public elementary schools include the Bates, Bentley, Carlton, Horace Mann, Nathanial Bowditch, Saltonstall and Witchcraft Heights schools. Collins Middle School, Nathaniel Bowditch School, and Salem High School are located on Highland Avenue. Private schools are also located in the city, including two independent, alternative schools, the Phoenix and the Greenhouse, as well as the Catholic St. Joseph's School and the Salem Academy Charter School.

In late 2007 and early 2008, the city's public school system [4] 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, that averted teacher layoffs. Several dozen support workers were still laid off.[5] Police were investigating what happened to the money in a search for criminal violations of the law.[6]

[edit] Transportation

Salem has a station on the MBTA Commuter Rail's Newburyport/Rockport Line, and is served by numerous MBTA Bus lines which connect to the train station. The cost of a Commuter Rail ticket to Boston is $5.25.

No limited-access highways serve Salem, but Massachusetts Route 1A passes through downtown, and the city is close to Interstate 95, Route 1, and Route 128.

Between late spring and early autumn, the high-speed Salem Ferry operates between Salem and the New England Aquarium in Boston. In 2008, a permanent ferry terminal is to be constructed at the Aquarium.

[edit] Tourism

Salem Witch Museum

Since 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 2007, the city launched the Haunted Passport program which offers visitors discounts and benefits from local tourist attractions and retailers from October to April. The goal of the program is to get visitors to come back to Salem after Halloween and experience businesses that may not be directly tied to Halloween. Thousands watched in 2007 as Mayor Kim Driscoll started a new trend with a massive fireworks display that kicked off at 10 p.m Halloween. [7]

The c. 1664 Pickman House, located on Charter Street, is believed to be Salem's oldest surviving building.

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. Several steps have been taken in this direction, including the designation of a portion of the city's waterfront as the nation's first National Historic Site.

In 2000 the replica tall ship Friendship[8] was finished and sailed to Salem Harbor, where she sits today. The Friendship is a reconstruction of a 171-foot three-masted Salem East Indiaman trading ship that was originally built in 1797. The original construction of the Friendship was started in 1796 by shipbuilder Enos Briggs, and registered in 1797 to merchants Jerathmiel Peirce and Aaron Waite.

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 America's oldest continuously operating museum. In 2003, it completed a massive 200 million dollar renovation and expansion, designed by architect Moshe Safdie, and moved a 200-year-old 16-room Chinese house [9] from Xiuning County in southeastern China to the grounds of the Museum. The Museum's architecture collection also includes a number of historical houses around downtown Salem.

In 2005, the conflict came to a head over plans by the cable television network TV Land [10] to erect a bronze statue of Elizabeth Montgomery, who played the comic witch 'Samantha' in the 1960s series Bewitched [11]. 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. Some felt that the statue trivialized history by encouraging visitors to recall a sitcom rather than the tragic Salem witch trials. The statue was later vandalized with red spray-painted "X"s over the face and chest, and flags placed in the statue's hands.

[edit] Points of interest

Nathaniel Hawthorne by Bela Pratt

Gallows Hill Park. Popular legend places the execution of the Salem Witches near this site.

Salem Common in 2006.

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)
House of the Seven Gables (1668)
The Witch House The only house remaining in Salem with any direct ties to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
Salem Common
Misery Islands
Peabody Essex Museum (1799)
Stephen Phillips Memorial Trust House (1800 & 1821)
Pickering House, Broad Street (c. 1651)
Ropes Mansion (late 1720s)
Chestnut Street
McIntire Historic District; greatest concentrations of notable pre-1900 domestic structures in the United States Of America
Salem Maritime National Historic Site - The only remaining intact waterfront from the U.S. age of sail.
Pioneer Village Salem Massachusetts, Forest River Park (c. 1930)
Salem Willows Park (1858)
Joseph Story House

[edit] Notable residents

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2007)

Roger Williams House (or "The Witch House") in c. 1910

Nehemiah Adams, clergyman & author
Frank W. Benson, artist
Nathaniel Bowditch, mathematician & navigator
Robert Ellis Cahill, sheriff, historian & author
Roger Conant, founder of Salem
Crowninshield family, Boston Brahmins who later helped found Salem
Elias Hasket Derby, merchant
Joseph Horace Eaton, artist and military officer
John Endecott, governor
Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer
Jeff Juden, major league baseball pitcher
Samuel McIntire, architect & woodcarver
Richard Mulcahy, executive producer
George Swinton Parker, founder of Parker Brothers
Samuel Parris, minister
Timothy Pickering, secretary of state
Sarah Parker Remond, abolitionist
Aaron Richmond, impresario and artist manager
Samuel Sewall, magistrate
John F. Tierney, U.S. Congressman
Roger Williams, theologian
Laurie Cabot, Wiccan high priestess
Hardcore/metal band Converge (and various associated side projects) are based in Salem.
Singer/Songwriter Mary Lou Lord grew up in Salem
Steve Thomas, former host of PBS's "This Old House"
Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric- Grew up in Salem, attended Salem High School
Rick Brunson, former NBA star, played for Salem High School]]
Scoonie Penn, Professional Basketball player
Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor

[edit] Sister Cities

- Oroville, California (USA) 2007^[5]

[edit] Further reading

In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, Mary Beth Norton, Knopf, 2002, hardcover, 432 pages, ISBN 0-375-40709-X

[edit] References

Perley, Sidney. 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.
1795 Map of Salem.
Saunders, Jonathan P. 1832 Map of Salem.
Beer, D.G. 1872 Atlas of Essex County Map of Salem. Plate 118.
Walker, George H. 1884 Atlas of Essex County Salem South. Plate 16. Salem North. Plate 17.
Various Salem Atlases.
Hopkins, C.M. Atlas of Salem, Massachusetts. Published in 1874.
Sanborn Map Co. Map of Salem Showing Area Destroyed by Fire June 25,1914.
Atlas of Salem for 1890-1903 Index Map. Page selection.
1897 Atlas of Salem Massachusetts Index Map.
Walker. 1911 Atlas of Salem, Massachusetts.
Salem 1906-1938 Index or Key Map.
Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts to 1849. Published 1916,1918,1924,1925. Transcribed and put online by John Slaugher.

This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

^ Find a County. National Association of Counties. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ Albert Christophe. The Romantic Story of the Puritan Fathers: And Their Founding of NewBoston. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ Chico considers establishing permanent sister city guidelines - Chico Enterprise Record

[edit] External links

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Salem, Massachusetts

Salem, Massachusetts is at coordinates 42°31′01″N 70°53′55″W / 42.516845, -70.898503 (Salem, Massachusetts)Coordinates: 42°31′01″N 70°53′55″W / 42.516845, -70.898503 (Salem, Massachusetts)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Essex County, Massachusetts

Cities	Amesbury \| Beverly \| Gloucester \| Haverhill \| Lawrence \| Lynn \| Methuen \| Newburyport \| Peabody \| Salem

Towns	Andover \| Boxford \| Danvers \| Essex \| Georgetown \| Groveland \| Hamilton \| Ipswich \| Lynnfield \| Manchester-by-the-Sea \| Marblehead \| Merrimac \| Middleton \| Nahant \| Newbury \| North Andover \| Rockport \| Rowley \| Salisbury \| Saugus \| Swampscott \| Topsfield \| Wenham \| West Newbury

CDPs	Andover \| Boxford \| Essex \| Ipswich \| Rockport \| Rowley \| Salisbury \| Topsfield

Villages	Annisquam \| Ballardvale \| Beverly Farms \| Bradford \| Byfield \| Clifton \| Plum Island