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North Salem, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Salem City. It lies in ZIP code area 01970. It lies near Ledge Hill. The Survey maps it on the Salem quadrangle.

North Salem within Essex County

Then and now

1888 to 1985

The same ground, surveyed 97 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of North Salem, surveyed 1985
Topographic sheet of North Salem, surveyed 1888

On record in North Salem

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 12 of 37 shown

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Every listing in Essex County

Topographic sheets covering this place

17 surveys from 42 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

67,733 words on this township

History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1888 names this settlement in its chapter on Salem City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

This school was known sometimes as the Writing school and sometimes as the English school, the former name gradually giving way to the latter, until it was finally dropped. It soon began to act as a feeder to the Latin school, for in July, 1717, the committee voted that four boys be promoted from the Reading and Writing school to the Grammar school. We find no trace of more than one English school in the town proper previous to 1785. As early as 1700 the town granted money for schools at Ryall Side (Beverly), Middle Precinct (Peabody), the village (Danvers) and Will Hill (Middleton), where the instruction was probably substantially that of the English or Writing school. In 1785 three English schools were opened, - one in the centre of the town, Edward Norris, master ; another in the eastern part of the town, with John Watson master and a third in the western end, with Isaac Hacker master. An English school was opened in North Salem in 1807, and one in South Salem in 1819, the latter being first known as the South English school. This school was subsequently located on Ropes Street, and named the Brown school. In 1874 it was transferred to the new house on Hazel Street, and soon after called the Saltonstall Grammar school. Another English or Grammar school was established in the east part of the town, on Williams Street, in 1821. The High school for girls opened on Beckford Street, in 1827, subsequently became the Higginson Grammar school. In 1841 a new school was opened on Aborn Street, for both sexes, under charge of Charles NorLliend. Four years later it was named the Epes school. In 1876 the Higginson and Epes were united with the Hacker, on Dean Street, all under the name of Bowditch Grammar school. The Girls' High school, on East Street, in 1827, was the original of what is now the Bently school for girls, Grammar and Primary. The Centre school was, in 1841, united with the AV^illiams Street and East Street schools as the Union school, and located near Forrester Street. In 1845, when the general renaming of schools took place, this school received the name of Phillips' Grammar. The North English in North Salem became the Pickering.

Passage source: History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1888.

The largest school building in the city is the Bowditch, on Dean Street, built in 1870 at a cost of eightyfive thousand dollars, including land-. The Phillips Grammar school, on Lower Essex Street, occupies an eight-room house, built in 1883 at a cost of thirtythree thousand and five hundred dollars. The Bently Grammar and Primary, on Essex Street, near the Phillips, was built in 1861 and enlarged in 1886. The four-room building in North Salem, occupied by the Pickering Grammar school, was built in 1862, at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. The Saltonstall, on Holly Street, South Salem, the only wooden grammar school-building, and built in 1874, cost sixteen thousand dollars. Of the primary school-houses all are small and most of them are old, wooden four-room buildings. The Bertram is the only one of recent date.

Passage source: History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1888.

tional progress. This building stood near where the previous school-house had. It was taken down in 1785 to make room for a new court-house, and quarters hired elsewhere for the schools. They were not long without a home, for on March 24tli the town voted to build the Centre school-house, 24x36 feet, a portion of which was to be occupied by a library. This building was of wood, two stories high. The Latin school occupied rooms here. Other houses were undoubtedly soon built for the East and West schools. The next school-house built was probably that in North Salem, which was on the corner of North and School Streets. The High school now occupies a fairly commodious building on Broad Street, where it has been located since 1856. For thirtyseven years previous it had occupied the neighboring building now used by the Oliver Primary school.

Passage source: History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1888.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Salem City.

Fires near this place

65 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 65 fires within 5 miles of North Salem between 2006 and 2020, burning about 188 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Recreation and ceremony22
Smoking10
Equipment and vehicle use7
Debris and open burning6
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Arson/incendiarism3
Fireworks3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Natural1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Other causes1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
5 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
4 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
27 September 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPEABODY
12 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlDANVERS

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 9,320 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 9,320 specimens collected within 10 miles of North Salem between 1800 and 1975: 3,823 Plantae, 2,903 Animalia, 1,047 Fungi, 896 Chromista, 452 Unrecorded, 151 Bacteria, 48 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A B. Proper, A H HIGGINSON, A. A. Eaton and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
A photograph of the species Rhodocollybia prolixa, not of this specimenRhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta (Fr.) Antonín, Halling & Noordel.1800R. B. MackintoshPeabody
Erysiphaceae1803A. B. Seymour
A photograph of the species Brasenia schreberi, not of this specimenBrasenia schreberi J.F.Gmel.1821not recordedPleasant Pond, Wenham, Mass.
A photograph of the species Lecanora tartarea, not of this specimenLecanora tartarea (L.) Ach.1839E. TuckermanManchester
A photograph of the species Ochrolechia yasudae, not of this specimenOchrolechia yasudae Vainio1839Tuckerman, E.[USA] Manchester, Massachusetts.
A photograph of the species Desmarestia viridis, not of this specimenDesmarestia viridis (O.F.Müll.) J.V.Lamour.1841C. E. PeaseMarblehead
A photograph of the species Polysiphonia urceolata, not of this specimenPolysiphonia urceolata (Lightfoot ex Dillwyn) Greville1841F. S. CollinsRevere Beach, Revere, MA
A photograph of the species Splachnum ampullaceum, not of this specimenSplachnum ampullaceum Hedw.1843A. Gray; W. S. SullivantManchester
A photograph of the species Carex caryophyllea, not of this specimenCarex caryophyllea Latourr.1847C. DeweySalem
A photograph of the species Carex muhlenbergii, not of this specimenCarex muhlenbergii Kunth ex Boott1847F. M. B. Boott
A photograph of the species Ceramium rubrum, not of this specimenCeramium rubrum C.Agardh1848E. Hodges
A photograph of the species Cladophora rupestris, not of this specimenCladophora rupestris (L.) Kütz.1848H. W. W. BaileyLittle Nahant, MA

All 9,320 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of North Salem: 5 plants, 2 producers, 2 past producers, 1 unknown. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Zirconium, Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
(Facility) Travers Labs Refinery--Beverly, Ma.Mercury, Silver, Gold, REEPlant
Donald Innis IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Hale Engineering Co--Danvers, Ma.TungstenPlant
Saugus DepositIronOccurrence
Thiokol Ventron Div--Danvers, Ma.ThoriumPlant
Thiokol Ventron Div--Beverly, Ma.ZirconiumPlant
Ventron Corp--Beverly, Ma.ZirconiumPast Producer
Danvers QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Swampscott PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
Swampscott QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown

Every working recorded in Essex County

Storms near this place

3 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names North Salem in 3 storm reports between 2011 and 2023: 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
October 2011Flash FloodNorth Salem$2,500,000Numerous streets were closed due to flooding. In addition, numerous vehicles were reported stuck in water on roads throughout Peabody; occupants had to be rescued and vehicles towed. Parts of Route 128 were impassable due to flooding. The Peabody police station was flooded, damaging training rooms, telephones, three police cruisers, and two motorcycles. Several houses were flooded near the intersection of Washington and Granite Streets. The Lahey Clinic was flooded with 4 to 6 feet of water in the basement and several inches of water in the 1st floor hallways. The fire chief estimated that at least 100 houses and 40 businesses were damaged. In addition, at least 100 basements throughout town were flooded. Flooding was extensive enough that schools were closed.
October 2011Thunderstorm WindNorth Salem$10,000A tree was downed onto a house on North Street by thunderstorm winds.
July 2023FloodNorth Salem-In Salem, Pearl St bridge was closed due to flooding.

Every storm recorded in Essex County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Salem0.7 miles42
South Salem1.2 miles42
Peabody1.3 miles42
Rial Side1.7 miles42
Danversport1.7 miles42
Salem Neck2.0 miles40
West Town Landing2.2 miles40
Needham Corner2.4 miles42

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 614300. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.