SALEM, a sea-port town of the United States, and capital of Essex county in Massachusetts. It is sup posed to be the first town in point of magnitude in the Commonwealth, and nearly the oldest, it having been settled in 1628. The most populous part of the town is situated on a peninsula formed by two small inlets of the sea, called the North and South Rivers. Over each of these rivers is a bridge leading to the other parts of the town, one of which is called North, the other, South Salem; there is also another bridge over the North River, called Essex bridge, upwards of 1500 feet in length, erected in 1789, this connects Sa lem with Beverley. The South River forms the har bour, which has good anchorage; the wharves are nu merous, and several of them of great length, the longest is over 2100 feet—vessels drawing over thir teen feet are obliged to unload at a distance from the Wharves.
Though the situation of Salem is low, it is salubri ous. There are many houses well built, spacious and elegant, with extensive gardens, and many with court yards in front; most of them are built of wood, but those recently erected are generally of brick. The streets are irregular. It contains a handsome court house, a prison, built of dress'd stone, at an expense of 60,000 dollars, a market-house, and town hall, an alms-house, managed on an improved plan, five banks, a custom-house, seven insurance companies, an asylum for orphans, a museum, a savings bank, an athenmum, with a library of above 5000 volumes, a reading room well supplied with newspapers, thirteen places of pub lic worship, viz. four for Unitarians, three for Con gregationalists or Presbyterians, two for Baptists, one for Friends, one for Episcopalians, one for Roman Ca tholics, one for Methodists, and one for Universalists.
The public schools are numerous and well conduct ed; at one of them, called the high school, scholars are prepared for collegiate studies; at this, about 160 students attend. At the public schools, (the glory of Massachusetts,) have been educated many of the citi zens who now adorn their country.
Salem has a handsome common of ten acres, sur rounded with a public walk, and planted with rows of trees.
Fort Pickering and fort Lee stand on a peninsula below the town; and there are two lighthouses on Ba ker's Island at the entrance of the harbour. Popula tion in 1820, 12,731.
The inhabitants are principally employed in trade and commerce.
The vessels engaged in the East India trade are nu merous.
There is here an East India marine society, esta blished in 1801, and consisting of persons who have sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, or Cape Horn, as masters or supercargoes of vessels. The museum, which contains many objects of interest, particularly in conchology, belongs to this society, and visiters are admitted gratuitously only, and that by introduction from one of the members of the society.
The mean temperature of Salem, according to thir ty-three years observations by Dr. Holyoke, is 48'.678 of Fahrenheit, 11°. 76 lower than that of Paris, which is nearly in the same parallel in the old world. West Long. 43' 37", North Lat. 33' 20". See War den's Secount of the United States; and the Me moirs of the dmeriean deaderay, Vol. iv. p. 386.