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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
Recent increases in population have changed the little Quaker town. However, there is still among the inhabitants a pride in the community's past history and traditions which are closely linked to the more than 50 existing Colonial houses of the early settlement. In dusty attics pricelessantiques are stored, treasures handed down through generations. Many souvenirs of pre-Revolutionary vintage still occupy places of importance in the living rooms of the homes; others have been donated or lent to historical collections. Through the windows, ladder-backed chairs and ancestral portraits can be seen.
The Salem section has long been famous as a fur market for muskrat pelts. An outstanding community event is the muskrat skinning contest in February at the county courthouse. The 1937 champion set a record by skinning 10 "rats" in 3 minutes and 16 seconds; in the same contest a one-armed contestant outstripped several two-armed competitors. Fox hunting with hounds is also a popular sport, but within recent years farmers and chicken fanciers have almost exterminated the foxes.
Saturday is market day. Farmers from the surrounding area come to the county seat to lay in supplies for the following week; the streets lose their Tranquillity and acquire a layer of banana and orange peels and apple cores. Children are sent to the movies, while basket-carrying parents walk up and down before the rows of stores. The custom is as old as the colony, and the advent of the automobile has rather strengthened than lessened it.
This small-town atmosphere gives no indication of the large glass, linoleum, canning, and chemical factories on the outskirts. A large percentage of the population is employed in them.
Many Salemites are lineal descendants of original or early settlers. A sizable Negro population lives on the outskirts, near the factories. There is a negligible number of foreign-born.
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