Historic Salem, Inc.

Historic Salem, Inc. (HSI) is one of America’s oldest civic architectural preservation groups. It was founded in 1944 to save the Corwin House, known popularly as the Witch House, when it was threatened with demolition. The Corwin House is the only building extant in Salem with a direct connection to the witch trials of 1692, so it is fitting that it was HSI’s first success story and fitting as well that HSI’s offices are right next door in the Nathaniel Bowditch House. Historic Salem has served for more than six decades as one of Salem’s key architectural/historical resources and advocates. It has been instrumental in establishing official historic districts within the city and nominating several landmarks to the National Register of Historic Landmarks. It has helped to save the Wendt House (1783) and the Pope House (1740), a rare survivor of Salem’s Quaker community. Today, HSI continues to operate as a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to preserving Salem’s rich legacy of historic houses, buildings and other properties. HSI works to ensure their architectural and visual integrity as well as their appropriate adaptive reuse. The organization participates in civic design reviews, presents annual preservation awards, provides house histories and plaques to identify historic properties throughout the city, runs educational programs and hosts a variety of social and fundraising events that welcome newcomers and lifelong residents alike to our preservation community.