Salem, NJ

Salem is Salem County's seat, a city of 5,296 people in the 2020 census on the Salem River in the Philadelphia metro. John Fenwick laid out the town in 1675, and the name comes from shalom, the Hebrew word for peace. County offices and the courthouse give the center a civic role that reaches beyond the city's size, while Market Street and Broadway carry much of the historic built fabric. The Salem River also links the city to the Delaware, continuing a port tradition that began when Salem was made a port of entry in the colonial period.

Local routines still have a school-and-courthouse shape: Salem City School District runs from prekindergarten through 12th grade, and Salem County's government has met in the city since 1694. Salem Community College is nearby in Carneys Point, adding another education link to the county seat. The riverfront and rail connections keep an industrial side in view alongside the older civic streets. The Salem Oak, which stood for roughly six centuries before falling in 2019, remains part of the town's shared memory, with its former site along Broadway keeping that story close to the center.