Salem played a vital role as
center of maritime trade
during the 18th century.
In the 1620s, English settlers struck inward from rocky, storm-lashed Cape Ann in search of more hospitable terrain. They found it at the mouth of a river Native Americans had named Naumkeag, or "comfort haven." In 1629, the new settlement was formally named
Salem, after Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace. The settlement lived up to its name, and residents lived in peace and relative prosperity until 1692, when the Salem Witch Trials took place.This chapter in Salem's history, however, is only thread of a rich tapestry of historical and cultural offerings for visitors and residents.
The House of Seven Gables
During the 1700s, the city rose to prominence as a fishing, trading, and shipbuilding center and played an important maritime role in the American Revolution. In 1799 a collection of sea captains founded the East India Marine Society in order to collect "natural and artificial curiosities" from around the world. This Society, which has evolved into the present-day
Peabody Essex Museum, is the oldest continually run museum in the country. Renovations to the museum in 2003—including the addition of a late Qing dynasty house that was moved piece-by-piece from China and reconstructed in
Salem—have attracted a considerable amount of attention, and also served to beautify the city center. One of the city's most famous natives is Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables. The house itself is open to the public, as is Hawthorne's birthplace and the customs house where he worked and where, rumor has it, he actually discovered a scarlet "A" in the attic.
> Salem's Present
Sources: Destination Salem, Wikipedia, Salem News.
