Salem Public Library

The Salem Public Library is the city’s public library, housed in a historic building that welcomes visitors of all ages to explore, learn and be entertained. Alongside its everyday role for residents, it marks events on the literary calendar such as Banned Books Week, and its research guides make it a useful stop for anyone looking into Salem’s past or tracing their own family’s roots in the region.

The library is especially useful for people researching family history. Its Salem collection and research guides point to resources such as the Vital Records to 1850 series, Sidney Perley’s three-volume History of Salem, which covers the city from 1626 to 1716 with genealogies of early settlers, and the Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, including a volume available only in print at the library.

What to Know

• The family history guide also points to the Essex Institute Historical Collections on Essex County people and places.
• Researchers can consult the four-volume Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England.
• John Farmer’s 1829 Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England is among the listed sources.