Salem, Massachusetts, Is 400 Years Old: 15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Witch City

I don't know why this caught me off guard, but Salem, Massachusetts, is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year.

Four. Hundred. Years.

Salem is 400 years old this year, which means it has officially been around long enough to complain that New England isn't what it used to be.

Four centuries of history and somehow finding parking in October may still be the city's greatest crisis.

Credit: Getty Images

But Salem's story goes WAY beyond 1692.

The city traces its founding by English colonists to 1626, when Roger Conant moved a settlement from Cape Ann to an area then known as Naumkeag. That's why 2026 is officially Salem's quadricentennial year.

And there's an important reason you'll see the celebration called Salem 400+ instead of simply Salem 400.

The "+" recognizes that Salem's history didn't begin when Europeans showed up 400 years ago. Naumkeag was already home to generations of Indigenous people who lived, fished, farmed, traded and raised families there long before 1626.

Salem has been celebrating the milestone throughout 2026 with special events, exhibits and programs looking at the city's past, present and future.

And once I started digging through 400 years of Salem history, I realized just how much has happened in this relatively small New England city.

There are the witch trials, obviously.

But there's also America's maritime history, Nathaniel Hawthorne, the beginnings of the National Guard, massive fires, abolitionists, historic mansions and a few stories that made me go, "Wait… THAT happened in Salem?"

So before we all descend on the Witch City again this fall, here are

15 things you probably didn't know about Salem, Massachusetts

1. Salem Was Founded in 1626

Roger Conant moved his settlement from Cape Ann to Naumkeag in the fall of 1626, establishing the English settlement that eventually became Salem.

That makes 2026 the 400th anniversary of Salem's founding.

2. Salem Wasn't Originally Called Salem

Before European colonization, the area was known as Naumkeag, often translated as "fishing place."

Generations of Indigenous people lived in and traveled through this area long before Roger Conant arrived. That's also the reason behind the "+" in the city's **Salem 400+** celebration.

3. Salem's Name Is Connected to the Word "Peace"

According to Salem's official 400th-anniversary history, tradition holds that after Roger Conant peacefully turned leadership of the settlement over to John Endicott, the community became known as Salem.

The name is connected to the Hebrew word "shalom", meaning peace.

Which is a little ironic considering what happened there a few decades later.

4. The National Guard Traces Its Beginnings to Salem

Here's one I definitely didn't know.

In December 1636, the East Regiment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony militia was organized in Salem.

The U.S. National Guard considers that organization of colonial militia units, including the one associated with Salem, part of its origin story.

So yes, Salem can claim a connection to the "birth of the National Guard."

5. The House of the Seven Gables Is REALLY Old

Construction of what became known as "The House of the Seven Gables" dates back to 1668.

It eventually became famous because of Salem-born author Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1851 novel The House of the Seven Gables.

Think about that for a second.

People were walking around inside that house more than 100 years before America declared independence.

6. The Witch Trials Didn't Actually Start in What We Know as Downtown Salem

This one can get confusing.

The first accusations associated with the Salem Witch Trials began in Salem Village, which is largely present-day Danvers.

At the time, Salem covered a much larger geographic area than the modern city does today.

So when we say "Salem Witch Trials," we're actually talking about events that spread across several communities.

7. Twenty-Five Innocent People Died During the Witch Trials Crisis

The witch trials weren't the campy Halloween story they've sometimes become in pop culture.

The events of 1692 and 1693 led to the deaths of 25 innocent women, men and children.

Most of those executed were hanged. Giles Corey was pressed to death under heavy stones, and others died while imprisoned.

Today, Salem has made a much greater effort to tell the victims' stories and treat the trials as what they were, a tragedy fueled by fear, intolerance and injustice.

READ MORE: Thanks, New Hampshire: The Alarm Clock Is Apparently Your Fault Too

8. You Can Still See Real Objects Connected to the Witch Trials

This part is pretty incredible.

The Peabody Essex Museum has authentic objects connected to the Salem Witch Trials, including court-related materials and personal objects belonging to people involved in the events.

Its ongoing The Salem Witch Trials 1692 exhibition includes one of the world's most significant collections of original material connected to the trials.

That's very different from a Halloween haunted house.

You're looking at objects connected to actual people who lived through 1692.

9. Salem Became One of America's Most Important Ports

Long before Salem became known around the world for witches, it was known for ships.

By the late 1700s and early 1800s, Salem merchants were involved in global trade, helping turn the city into one of America's important maritime centers.

The city's final Custom House was built in 1819, a reminder of just how significant international trade once was to Salem.

There is an entirely different version of Salem hiding underneath the Witch City reputation.

10. One of America's First Luxury Yachts Was Built in Salem

Apparently wealthy people wanting ridiculous boats isn't exactly a new thing.

In 1816, Salem's George Crowninshield Jr. commissioned the construction of Cleopatra's Barge, described by Salem 400+ as America's first luxury yacht.

Honestly, "Cleopatra's Barge" is an outstanding yacht name.

11. Salem Has an Incredible Connection to the Abolitionist Movement

Sarah Parker Remond was born in Salem in 1826 and became an important abolitionist.

While still young, she became an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society and eventually spoke against slavery in both the United States and Great Britain.

She later moved to Italy and became a physician.

That's one of those Salem stories that deserves to be much better known.

12. Salem Didn't Officially Become a City Until 1836

Here's a fun distinction.

Salem dates its founding to 1626, but it remained a town for more than two centuries.

It wasn't officially chartered as a city until 1836, becoming only the second Massachusetts community to receive that designation.

So Salem is celebrating 400 years in 2026, but technically only 190 of those years have been as a city.

13. Nathaniel Hawthorne Was Actually From Salem

Salem didn't just inspire Nathaniel Hawthorne.

He was born there.

And his family had a direct connection to the witch trials.

Hawthorne was a descendant of John Hathorne, one of the judges involved in the 1692 proceedings. That dark family connection became part of Hawthorne's complicated relationship with Salem and its history.

Suddenly all that darkness in his writing makes a little more sense.

14. A Huge Fire Tore Through Salem in 1914

Salem has survived a lot over four centuries.

One of the biggest disasters came with the Great Salem Fire of 1914, which devastated a large section of the city.

Among the losses were buildings connected to Salem Hospital and institutions serving the city's large French-Canadian community.

It's another chapter of Salem history that tends to get overshadowed by everything that happened in 1692.

15. There's a Reason They're Calling It Salem 400+

This might actually be my favorite part of the anniversary.

Salem could have simply thrown itself a giant 400th birthday party.

Instead, the official commemoration is called Salem 400+.

That "+" is there to recognize the Indigenous history that predates the European settlement of 1626 while also looking toward what Salem becomes next.

It's basically Salem saying:

"We're 400 years into one chapter of this place's history, not 400 years into the entire story."

And considering how much Salem has changed over those four centuries, that feels like a pretty good way to celebrate it. Here is their Facebook page

Salem Is Way More Than the Witch City

I'll admit it. I usually think about Salem the same way I think a lot of New Englanders do.

October. Witches. Halloween. Crowds.

But 400 years puts the place in a completely different perspective.

This little Massachusetts city has been a Native homeland, colonial settlement, international shipping powerhouse, center of one of America's darkest episodes, birthplace of famous writers and activists, and now one of the most recognizable destinations in New England.

So the next time you're walking down Essex Street surrounded by witch hats, tarot shops and approximately 47,000 people trying to get the same Halloween selfie, remember:

You're standing in a place with 400 years of colonial history, and thousands of years of history before that.

Happy 400th, Salem. You are historic, beautiful, slightly chaotic and completely incapable of providing enough October parking. Never change.