Founded in 1810, the Salem Athenaeum keeps its books at 337 Essex Street in the McIntire Historic District of Salem, Massachusetts. Founded in 1810 and described as one of the oldest membership libraries in the United States, this institution began when two earlier organizations came together: the Social Library, founded in 1760, and the Salem Philosophical Library, founded in 1781. The Athenaeum’s first president was Edward Augustus Holyoke, and when the doors first opened the collection numbered 2,700 books.
Those holdings combined works from the United States and England and other parts of Europe, and individual members continued to donate volumes from their personal libraries over the years. The Athenaeum’s first permanent building was erected in the 1850s thanks to a large bequest from Caroline Plummer. In 1905 the organization sold that building and used the proceeds to build the current facility, which was dedicated in 1907.
Most recently, in 2023 the Athenaeum completed a restoration project and is now raising funds to make the building more accessible to meet modern library standards. Notice the entrance, the windows, and the stretch of Essex Street just beyond.