Once the largest port in the Northeast, the city of Salem is today clearly less of a commercial and maritime center than the nearby city of Boston, twenty miles to the south. However, this was not always the case, as Salem was at one time in the late 18th century the largest port in Massachusetts and the sixth largest port in the world.
Salem’s two lighthouses: The lighthouse at Fort Pickering, with Baker’s Island light visible in the background to the left if one looks carefully:
This large and naturally protected port that is is a destination worth visiting by boat or by land. (Recall our visit to Salem Sound and Misery Island from Boston last summer). Salem’s history is well preserved due in large part to the significance of Hawthorne and the Salem witch trials. However, the nautical history of Salem- that of Nathaniel Bowditch and Fort Pickering is lesser known but equally intriguing.
Downtown salem, once the 6th largest city in the world, is well preserved. The central square is surrounding with old historic, federal style buildings like the one below:
Old ship in Salem’s harbor, once the busiest in the country:
Salem First Church, made infamous by the Salem Witch Trials which occuered here in the eighteenth century. The nearby Nathaniel Bowditch House, named for the founder of modern navigation, has been converted into a tourist center.
Fort Pickering
An integral part of Salem’s nautical history was Fort Pickering, the defenses built on Winter Island around the mouth of Salem Harbor. The remains of the Fort and the nearby lighthouse can be visited today. While this is just another one of the many fortifications lining the coast of Massachusetts, this one is less well known.
Below is a clip from old map showing the layout of the fort and winter island in relation to the city. At the time this chart was made, I imagine the cities of Salem and Boston handled similar shipping traffic volumes:
Here is the battery of Fort Pickering, that was used up until WWII. At that time, it had been used as storage for anti-submarine weapons:
An underground bunker in the central part of the fort:
The view of salem sound and Baker’s Island from the top of Fort Pickering:
