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Reported phenomena — as catalogued
America's First National Historic Site, 1762 Derby Wharf
160 Derby Street, Salem, MA 01970
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free admission to the park grounds and most exhibits. Some special tours may have a fee.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1762 · First U.S. National Historic Site · Colonial Maritime Trade · Nathaniel Hawthorne
Salem Maritime National Historic Site was designated on March 17, 1938, becoming the first National Historic Site in the United States. The nine-acre park preserves a working stretch of the colonial-era Salem waterfront, where Massachusetts merchant ships built fortunes in the China, India, and Caribbean trades during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Derby Wharf, the longest of Salem's surviving piers, was constructed beginning in 1762 by Richard Derby and his sons. At its commercial peak between 1790 and 1810, the wharf hosted hundreds of merchant vessels carrying goods from Sumatra, Canton, Calcutta, and the West Indies. The Derby family residence, built in 1762, is the oldest brick house in Salem.
The Custom House, completed in 1819, housed the federal officers who collected duties on imported goods. Nathaniel Hawthorne worked there as Surveyor of the Port from 1846 to 1849; his experiences shaped the introductory framing of The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850.
The park's centerpiece vessel is the Friendship of Salem, a full-scale 171-foot replica of a 1797 East Indiaman built in 2000. The ship is moored at Derby Wharf and serves as a floating exhibit when not in active maintenance.
Other structures include the Derby Wharf Light Station, a small 1871 lighthouse at the wharf's seaward end; the Narbonne House, a 1675 working-class dwelling; the West India Goods Store; and the Pedrick Store House.
Sources
The Maritime site sits within walking distance of the better-known Salem Witch Trials Memorial and the Old Burying Point, and most of Salem's ghost-tour operators include the waterfront in their evening routes. Specific paranormal incidents documented at the National Park Service's individual structures are less abundant in published sources than the lore surrounding Salem's witch-trial sites.
Local walking-tour narratives reference the working conditions of sailors during the East India era, including impressment and shipboard fatalities, as the historical backdrop for atmospheric storytelling along Derby Street. The Park Service itself focuses interpretation on documented maritime history rather than on paranormal claims.
The Derby Wharf Light Station, a small brick tower at the wharf's tip, is sometimes included in lighthouse-focused ghost itineraries, though it is not a residence and was operated by visiting keepers rather than by a permanent family.
Walk Derby Wharf, the half-mile pier dating to 1762, and view the exteriors of the Derby House (1762, oldest brick house in Salem), the Custom House (1819, where Nathaniel Hawthorne worked), and the Friendship of Salem replica East Indiaman.
National Park Service rangers offer interpretive programs covering Salem's East India trade, privateering, customs enforcement, and the maritime workforce. Check the NPS website for ranger-led tour schedules.
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