The Salem Historical Society Museum is a nonprofit volunteer organization which maintains three buildings to house and display the many historical artifacts. Its purpose is to collect, explain, and preserve Salem's history.

The Museum buildings are open each Sunday afternoon, May through October. There is a small admission charge.




Organizations are encouraged to schedule tours for their members. School reunions often include the Museum in their planned activities. Arrangements for special tours for groups of five or more can be made by calling the Museum Director at 337-8514.

MAIN MUSEUM BUILDINGS

In December, 1971, W. Ray Pearce donated the first museum, Pearce Building, at 208 South Broadway Avenue in memory of his wife, Elizabeth. The corner brick building, Schell Building, was purchased in 1974 and the two were then connected. In 1979 a meeting room was added with a grant from the Salem Community Foundation.

Items on display cover a wide range of subjects. Many of the rooms have a special theme, including the following:

One-Room School, with Fourth Street school desks, woodstove, books, clock, dunce cap 

Clothing Room, wedding dresses on models, hats, gloves, shoes

War Room, with uniforms and personnel items from the Spanish-American War to Viet Nam

Doctor's Office, in its actual location, with instruments and equipment used by Salem doctors and pharmacists

Kitchen, has a Salem made Woodruff coal cookstove, Deming Company hand pump, 1916 Maytag washer, and a variety of irons

Music Room, displays instruments, uniforms, band photos, radios

Industrial Room, research metal products with catalogs, photos and artifacts with emphasis on the W. H. Mullin's Company.

Colonial Bedroom, with rope bed, and quilts, cradles, furnishings

Library, historical, census and scrapbooks for research and genealogy

Victorian Parlor, where furniture, music box, pump organ, and bear rug depict the era

Toy Room, filled with nostalgia of games, dolls, racers, and wagons

Special exhibits within the rooms of the Museum include Wall of Fame, cameras, typewriters, seashells, industrial models, bottles, old store equipment, Salem China Co., ethnic items of Romanians and Saxons, and photo displays of churches, trolleys, and other areas of local history.

There are hundreds of special artifacts on display at the Salem Historical Museum. These objects --legacies of yesteryear-- give life to the past, making history more than just words on a printed page. The collection is a meaningful and tangible part of our heritage. Each item helps to complete the Salem story.