The New International Encyclopædia/Salem (New Jersey)

SALEM. A city and the county-seat of Salem County, N. J., 38 miles south by west of Philadelphia; on the Salem River, near its confluence with the Delaware, and on the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad, and the Salem and Philadelphia Steamboat Line (Map: New Jersey, B 4 ) . It is an attractive residential place, and has the John Tyler Library, with 11,600 volumes, and the Friends' Select Graded School. The surrounding region is engaged in farming. Salem is an important industrial centre, its principal establishments including glass works, fruit and vegetable canneries, and manufactories of oilcloth, wall paper, hosiery, women's garments, iron castings, machinery, and carriages. The government, under the revised charter of 1868, is vested in a mayor, elected every three years, and a unicameral council. The water-works are owned and operated by the municipality. Population, in 1890, 5516; in 1900, 5811.

Settled in 1675 by John Fenwick and a company of Quakers, Salem was incorporated as a town in 1695, and became a city in 1858. During the Revolution it was alternately occupied by British and American troops. Consult Johnson, An Historical Account of the First Settlement of Salem (Philadelphia, 1839).