17th century

• 1626
  • Settlers arrive.

• 1629
  • Town of Salem incorporated.

• 1644
  • Fort Pickering
    Fort Pickering
    Fort Pickering is a historic fort site on Winter Island in Salem, Massachusetts.The fort was first established in 1644 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973....
    
     established.

• 1651
  • Pickering House built (approximate date).

• 1664
  • Pickman House
    Pickman House
    The Pickman House, located in Salem, Massachusetts on Charter Street behind the Peabody Essex Museum, is the oldest continually operated museum in America...
    
     built.

• 1665
  • Gedney House
    Gedney House
    The Gedney House is a historic Colonial American house, estimated to have been constructed circa 1665. It is located at 21 High Street, near the intersection of Summer Street in the Chestnut Street District Salem, Massachusetts and operated as a non-profit museum by Historic New England...
    
     built (approximate date).

• 1668
  • House of the Seven Gables built.

• 1675
  • Jonathan Corwin house
    The Witch House
    The Witch House , was the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin and is the only structure still standing in Salem, Massachusetts with direct ties to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The house was bought by Judge Corwin, in 1675, when he was 24 years old and he lived there for more than forty years. Corwin...
    
     completed.

• 1692
  • Salem witch trials
    Salem witch trials
    The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
    
     begin.

18th century

• 1760
  • Salem Social Library
    Salem Social Library
    The Salem Social Library or Social Library in Salem was a proprietary library in Salem, Massachusetts. "Twenty-eight gentlemen ... subscribed 165 guineas. ... A Boston minister, [Jeremy Condy], was employed to buy the books in London and the library opened in a brick schoolhouse May 20, 1761, with...
    
     organized.

• 1766
  • Salem Marine Society instituted.

• 1768
  • Essex Gazette newspaper begins publication.

• 1776
  • Fort Lee
    Fort Lee (Salem, Massachusetts)
    Fort Lee is a historic site that was an American Revolution fort in Salem, Massachusetts.The fort was built in 1776 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.-External links:*...
    
     built.

• 1781
  • Salem Philosophical Library
    Salem Philosophical Library
    The Salem Philosophical Library or Philosophical Library Company was a proprietary library in Salem, Massachusetts. Men affiliated with the library included: Tho. Bancroft, Thomas Barnard, William Bentley, Joseph Blaney, Nathaniel Bowditch, Manasseh Cutler, Nathan Dane, Joshua Fisher, Edward...
    
     organized.

• 1782
  • Peirce-Nichols House
    Peirce-Nichols House
    The Peirce-Nichols House is a historic home located at 80 Federal Street, built in 1782, and residing in the Chestnut Street District, Salem, Massachusetts and owned by the Peabody Essex Museum....
    
     built.

• 1786
  • Salem Mercury
    Salem Mercury
    The Salem Mercury was a newspaper that was published by John Dabney and Thomas Cushing . It began production around 1786, and ended in 1790 after the name of the paper was changed. It printed weekly on Tuesday onto demy sheet, four columns to a page, and predominantly on Long Primer type. Editors...
    
    newspaper begins publication.

• 1790
  • Salem Gazette
    Salem Gazette
    The Salem Gazette is a newspaper that has been published since 1790 through today. It serves the Salem, Massachusetts area. The Salem Gazette used to be known as the Salem Mercury, and briefly The American Eagle...
    
    newspaper begins publication.

• 1791
  • Bakers Island Light established.

• 1796
  • Chestnut Street "laid out."

• 1797
  • Salem and Danvers Aqueduct incorporated.

• 1799
  • East India Marine Society
    East India Marine Society
    The East India Marine Society of Salem, Massachusetts was "composed of persons who have actually navigated the seas beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, as masters or supercargoes of vessels belonging to Salem." It functioned as a charitable and educational organization, and maintained a...
    
     established.

19th century

• 1800
  • Impartial Register newspaper begins publication.

• 1804
  • Gardner-Pingree House
    Gardner-Pingree House
    Gardiner-Pingree House is a National Historic Landmark at 128 Essex Street inSalem, Massachusetts.The house was built in 1804 by Samuel McIntire in a Federal style. It was added to the National Historic Register in 1970....
    
     built.

• 1805
  • First Universalist
    First Universalist Church (Salem, Massachusetts)
    First Universalist Society of Salem is a historic Universalist church building at 211 Bridge Street in Salem, Massachusetts.-History:The congregation was founded in 1805 after seven local people with an interest in Universalism attended a lecture by Rev. John Murray, a founder of Universalism. The...
    
     congregation founded.
  • Hamilton Hall
    Hamilton Hall (Salem, Massachusetts)
    Hamilton Hall is a National Historic Landmark at 9 Chestnut Street in Salem, Massachusetts in the Chestnut Street District in Salem, Massachusetts. Hamilton Hall is over 200 years old and is still used by many for events, private functions, wedding and is also home to a series of lectures that...
    
     built.

• 1806
  • Stephen Phillips House
    Stephen Phillips House
    The Stephen Phillips House is a historic house and museum located in the in the Chestnut Street District, in Salem, Massachusetts, USA.Phillips House began with Elias Hasket Derby, one of America's first self-made millionaires from the sea trade. When he died in 1799, his daughter, Elizabeth and...
    
     built.

• 1807
  • Essex Register newspaper begins publication.

• 1810
  • Salem Athenaeum
    Salem Athenaeum
    The Salem Athenaeum, founded in 1810, is one of the oldest private library organizations in the United States. The Athenaeum is located at 337 Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts.-History:...
    
     founded.
  • Bible Society of Salem instituted.

• 1811
  • Joseph Story House
    Joseph Story House
    The Joseph Story House is a National Historic Landmark at 26 Winter Street in Salem, Massachusetts.The house was built in 1811 for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973....
    
     built.

• 1817
  • Salem Charitable Mechanic Association organized.
  • Handel Society formed.

• 1818
  • Salem Evangelical Library formed.

• 1819
  • Salem Society for the Moral and Religious Instruction of the Poor formed.

• 1821
  • Essex Historical Society incorporated.
  • Haydn Society formed.

• 1823
  • Salem Observer newspaper begins publication.

• 1825
  • East India Marine Hall built.
  • Mozart Association organized.

• 1830
  • Salem Lyceum formed.
  • Bowker Place
    Bowker Place
    Bowker Place is a historic building at 144-156 Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts.The site was built in 1830 and added to the National Historic Register in 1983....
    
     built.

• 1831
  • Salem Dispensary incorporated.
  • Salem Mercury newspaper begins publication.

• 1832
  • Samaritan Society formed.
  • Salem Advertiser and Argus newspaper begins publication.
  • Salem Glee Club formed.

• 1833
  • Essex County Natural History Society
    Essex County Natural History Society
    The Essex County Natural History Society in Salem, Massachusetts, was formed "for the purpose of promoting the science of natural history." It endeavored "to form a complete collection of natural productions, curiosities...
    
     organized.
  • Seamen's Widow and Orphan Association formed.

• 1836
  • City of Salem incorporated.
  • Leverett Saltonstall
    Leverett Saltonstall I
    Leverett Saltonstall , was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts who also served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, President of the Massachusetts Senate, the first Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts and a Member of the Board of Overseers of...
    
     becomes mayor.

• 1838
  • City Hall
    City Hall (Salem, Massachusetts)
    City Hall is a historic city hall at 93 Washington Street in Salem, Massachusetts.The Greek Revival building was constructed in 1838 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973....
    
     built.

• 1839
  • Salem Children's Friend Society organized.
  • Salem Social Singing Society organized.

• 1840
  • Harmony Grove Cemetery
    Harmony Grove Cemetery
    Harmony Grove Cemetery is a cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts. It was established in 1840 and is located at 30 Grove Street.The cemetery includes the Gothic revival Blake Memorial Chapel of 1905.-Notable burials:...
    
     established.

• 1841
  • Female Washington Total Abstinence Society formed.

• 1846
  • Salem Academy of Music formed.

• 1848
  • Essex Institute
    Essex Institute
    The Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts, was "a literary, historical and scientific society." It maintained a museum, library, historic houses; arranged educational programs; and issued numerous scholarly publications...
    
     established.

• 1849
  • Salem Philharmonic Society formed.

• 1851
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne
    Nathaniel Hawthorne
    Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
    
    's The House of the Seven Gables
    The House of the Seven Gables
    The House of the Seven Gables is a 1668 colonial mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. The house is now a non-profit museum, with an admission fee charged for tours, as well as an active settlement house with programs for children...
    
    published.

• 1852
  • John Tucker Daland House
    John Tucker Daland House
    The John Tucker Daland House is an imposing, Italianate house designed by architect Gridley James Fox Bryant. It is located at 132 Essex Street, Salem, Massachusetts, United States, and now owned by the Peabody Essex Museum as home for the Essex Institute...
    
     built.

• 1854
  • Salem Normal School established.

• 1855
  • Salem Choral Society organized.
  • Salem Musical Education Society formed.

• 1857
  • Plummer Hall built.

• 1868
  • Peabody Academy of Science
    Peabody Academy of Science
    The Peabody Academy of Science in Salem, Massachusetts, "was organized in 1868, having received funds ... from George Peabody of London ... for the 'promotion of science and useful knowledge in the county of Essex.'" It was incorporated by "Asa Gray, of Cambridge, William C. Endicott, of Salem,...
    
     organized.
  • Salem Oratorio Society formed.

• 1871
  • Derby Wharf Light
    Derby Wharf Light
    Derby Wharf Light Station is a historic lighthouse on Derby Wharf in Salem, Massachusetts that is within the Salem Maritime National Historic Site....
    
     built.

• 1878
  • Salem Schubert Club organized.

20th century

• 1903
  • St. John the Baptist Parish founded.

• 1914
  • Great Salem Fire of 1914
    Great Salem Fire of 1914
    The Great Salem Fire of June 25, 1914, destroyed 1,376 buildings in Salem, Massachusetts.-Before the fire:Franklin H. Wentworth agitated for more fire protection. In an article in the Salem Evening News , he called "Salem in Danger of Destruction by Fire". He felt that the main fire danger was to...
    
    

• 1915
  • Peabody Museum of Salem
    Peabody Museum of Salem
    The Peabody Museum of Salem in Salem, Massachusetts, originated in the mid-19th century as the Peabody Academy of Science. In 1992 the museum merged with the Essex Institute to form the Peabody Essex Museum.-Further reading:...
    
     formed.

• 1930
  • Pioneer Village living history museum opens.

• 1992
  • Peabody Essex Museum
    Peabody Essex Museum
    The Peabody Essex Museum , originally the Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as...
    
     formed.
  • Phillips Library
    Phillips Library (Salem, Massachusetts)
    The Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, "is made up of the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem and Essex Institute, which merged in 1992. ... Both had libraries named for members of the Phillips family." "The Phillips Library is located in Plummer...
    
     established.

21st century

• 2000
  • Friendship of Salem
    Friendship of Salem
    The Friendship of Salem is a 171-foot replica of a 1797 East Indiaman, built in the Scarano Brothers Shipyard in Albany, New York, in 2000...
    
    replica built.

• 2007
  • Salem Arts Association incorporated.