Salem Historical Society Museum

The Salem Historical Society Museum is a nonprofit volunteer organization which maintains three buildings to house and display the many historical artifacts. Its purpose is to collect, explain, and preserve Salem's history.

MAIN MUSEUM BUILDINGS

In December, 1971, W. Ray Pearce donated the first museum, Pearce Building, at 208 South Broadway Avenue in memory of his wife, Elizabeth. The corner brick building, Schell Building, was purchased in 1974 and the two were then connected. In 1979 a meeting room was added with a grant from the Salem Community Foundation.

Items on display cover a wide range of subjects. Many of the rooms have a special theme, including the following:

• One-Room School, with Fourth Street school desks, woodstove, books, clock, dunce cap
• Clothing Room, wedding dresses on models, hats, gloves, shoes
• War Room, with uniforms and personnel items from the Spanish-American War to Viet Nam
• Doctor's Office, in its actual location, with instruments and equipment used by Salem doctors and pharmacists
• Kitchen, has a Salem made Woodruff coal cookstove, Deming Company hand pump, 1916 Maytag washer, and a variety of irons
• Music Room, displays instruments, uniforms, band photos, radios
• Industrial Room, research metal products with catalogs, photos and artifacts with emphasis on the W. H. Mullin's Company.
• Colonial Bedroom, with rope bed, and quilts, cradles, furnishings
• Library, historical, census and scrapbooks for research and genealogy
• Victorian Parlor, where furniture, music box, pump organ, and bear rug depict the era
• Toy Room, filled with nostalgia of games, dolls, racers, and wagons

Special exhibits within the rooms of the Museum include Wall of Fame, cameras, typewriters, seashells, industrial models, bottles, old store equipment, Salem China Co., ethnic items of Romanians and Saxons, and photo displays of churches, trolleys, and other areas of local history.

There are hundreds of special artifacts on display at the Salem Historical Museum. These objects --legacies of yesteryear-- give life to the past, making history more than just words on a printed page. The collection is a meaningful and tangible part of our heritage. Each item helps to complete the Salem story.

About The Salem Historical Society

The Salem Historical Society was formed in 1947, with Roy W. Harris as president. Single annual dues are $20.00, Family annual dues are $40.00. A Life Membership is $1000.00 per person. Membership includes a subscription to the "SALEM HISTORICAL BUGLE " newsletter. Meetings are at 7:00 on the second Tuesday of each month at the Museum.

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