Browse / United States / Massachusetts / Salisbury
Salisbury
MassachusettsCDP
Salisbury
Total population
5,656
Founded
1638
Demographic figures from US Census Bureau · ACS 5-year estimates. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.
City facts
Facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Overview
Salisbury is a small coastal beach town and summer tourist destination in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The community is a popular summer resort beach town situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of Boston on the New Hampshire border. It is home to the new Salisbury Beach Boardwalk, full of souvenir shops, restaurants, cafes, arcades and panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 9,236 at the 2020 census. Parts of town comprise the census-designated place of Salisbury.
Read more on WikipediaHistory & geography
History
The area currently known as Salisbury was inhabited for tens of thousands of years prior to European colonization. At the Morrill Point burial mound site on the north shore of the Merrimack River, there are human remains dating to 7,000 years ago with some dating suggesting settlement there as early as 8,500 years ago. At the time of European contact and colonization, the area north of the Merrimack River was inhabited by the Pentucket Tribe of the Pennacook confederation, who lived at the coastline seasonally to fish in the coastal wetlands. Unlike other towns of what would become Essex County that negotiated the terms of European settlement with native inhabitants, and laid out in a compact defensive arrangement with a garrison house, night watch, and militia for the purpose of defending against native attack. Salisbury was colonized by the English in 1638 as Colchester, and incorporated in 1640 as Salisbury, after Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, the birthplace of Christopher Batt who was appointed to train the colonists' militia. Salisbury was one of the six towns originally incorporated into Old Norfolk County. However in 1679, when four of those towns were broken off to form the Province of New Hampshire, Salisbury was annexed by Essex County. The original residents, including Richard Currier, were given one small house lot near the center of town, and one larger planting lot just outside the center for farming. Families also owned large sections of "sweepage lots" near the beach, where apparently they harvested the salt marsh hay. At the time, the area was almost entirely unbroken virgin forest, which had to be cleared for the construction of houses and the planting of fields. Richard Currier was a millwright and was one of the original settlers of…
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 17.9 square miles (46.2 km2), of which 15.4 square miles (40.0 km2) is land and 2.4 square miles (6.2 km2; 13.50%) is water. Salisbury is the northernmost town in Massachusetts, with its northwestern corner (where Elmwood Street meets the New Hampshire border) being at approximately 42°53'12.26". Lying along the northern banks of the Merrimack River at its mouth, the town is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Merrimack River and Newburyport to the south, Amesbury to the west, and Seabrook, New Hampshire, to the north. The town is home to Salisbury Beach State Reservation, a park which includes the entire seacoast and a small portion inland, as well as the Ram Island and Carr Island State Wildlife Management Areas, the two islands lying in the middle of the Merrimack (along with Eagle Island, which is not protected). Much of the town is covered by marshes, especially in the eastern part of town. Several brooks and creeks run through town as well. The town contains three villages, Salisbury Beach, Salisbury Plains (in the northwestern corner of town) and Browns Point (between Salisbury Beach and the center of town).
Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Demographics & economy
Geography
Coordinates & boundaries from the US Census TIGER/Line shapefiles.
Climate
Current forecast
Forecast for Salisbury, MA from NOAA NWS API.
Air quality
Industrial & pollution facilities
Natural hazard risk
Health (adults)
Walkability
Amenities nearby
Wildlife & biodiversity
Schools
Earthquake history
Photos
Sights & places nearby
Notable people from here
People born within ~10 km, from Wikidata (CC0). Click any name for their Wikipedia article.
Nearby places in Massachusetts
- Amesbury Town5.7 mi away
- Boxford13.5 mi away · pop. 2,284
- Peabody21.4 mi away · pop. 54,695
- Cochituate43.2 mi away
- Duxbury55 mi away · pop. 1,994
- Bourne76.9 mi away · pop. 1,806
- Ocean Grove78.4 mi away · pop. 3,453
- Yarmouth Port84 mi away · pop. 5,961
- Harwich Center88.2 mi away · pop. 1,774
- Deerfield91.3 mi away · pop. 458
- Chicopee98.7 mi away · pop. 55,295
- Cheshire119 mi away · pop. 674
Geography & sun
Elevation, sunrise/sunset and daylight from Open-Meteo. Solar climatology from NASA POWER.
Nearby airports
Public attention
Pageview totals from the Wikimedia Pageviews API.
Books about Salisbury
Search results from Open Library.
Recent natural events nearby
Ground air-quality sensors
Recently spotted species
Nearest stream gauge
Events
Gallery
Sources
- • Wikipedia
- • NOAA National Weather Service
- • Wikidata
- • Open-Meteo / sunrise-sunset.org
- • Wikipedia Pageviews API
- • Open Library
- • Wikidata SPARQL (CC0) — population, area, elevation, inception, head of government, Commons image