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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
SALEM (16 alt., 8,048 pop.) is like an old, old sampler with a few bright: spots; but it is time-worn and frayed. The old brick Georgian Colonial houses facing the brick-paved streets would stir envy in a Williamsburg reconstructionist, and the square, heavy, frame structures, typical of the Civil War era, are a living memorial to another historical period. Modern history, too, is represented by the semicircling rim of factories and faded workers' homes.
Because of its geographical position, 3 miles east of Delaware River and off main highways, Salem has developed as a relatively isolated community. The moorland quality of its surroundings adds to this sense of isolation From the west the approach is over great tidal flats, partially submerged at spring tide and swampy always. The flats end abruptly with a small) navigable stream known locally as Salem Creek, or Fenwick Creek, or oftener just "The Crick." This is Salem's western boundary, lined with wharves and modern factories that produce glassware, canned foods, linoleum and chemicals. Crossing a drawbridge the highway becomes a street that leads into West Broadway, the city's main thoroughfare. North, east and south the boundaries fade imperceptibly into miles of flat farm lands, across which modern highways reach Salem from Philadelphia and the Atlantic coast.
The streets are broad, shaded with venerable trees. Once they were muddy or covered with oyster shells, and traversed by feet bent on history making errands. They are quiet streets seldom touched by the stream of traffic that cuts across the State.
The houses are built close to the sidewalk. Sometimes there is a tiny lawn, closely cropped, set off from the pavement by an intricately scrolled wrought-iron fence, or a row of iron staples about 3 feet high. Large. luxuriant gardens bloom at the rear of the homes.
It is the decorative system of its homes, however, that gives Salem a quality all its own. Some builders of a past generation seem to have been endowed with an extraordinary gift for lacy scrollwork, with which they adorned the exteriors of many of the old homes. Succeeding builders have carried the idea forward until now the visitor seems surrounded with wooden filigrees, delicate or unsightly but all original and distinctive to each house. Even the shabbier sections try to cover their defects with crude ornamental woodwork. Where this is not practical the householders paint doors and wood frames with startling colors.
In the center of the town are the stores of the business district, many the remodeled first stories of old buildings. Wood and metal awnings overhang the sidewalk and for the space of about half a block make a solid protective cover. Imperceptibly the business houses give place to homes fronted by unused hitching posts and carriage blocks.
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