About 9 acres of Salem Harbor waterfront in Salem, Massachusetts, make up the Salem Maritime National Historical Park, and you have just walked into it. Right here the park preserves 12 historic structures and a single replica tall-ship, a compact ensemble that tells big stories about this port. Designated the first National Historic Site on March 17, 1938, and redesignated a National Historical Park on July 16, 2025, this stretch of waterfront interprets the Triangle Trade during the colonial period — in cotton, rum, sugar and slaves — the actions of privateers during the American Revolution, and the later global maritime trade with the Far East after independence.
The National Park Service manages the park and a Regional Visitor Center in downtown Salem; the NPS is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. In 2014 the National Park Service released figures for 2012 showing 756,038 visitors to Salem who spent an estimated $40,000,000, and the service celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016. Notice the replica tall-ship and the line of twelve historic buildings tracing this stretch of waterfront.