City of Salem City Map Poster

About City of Salem

The city is home to the Salem Red Sox, a minor league baseball team that plays at LewisGale Field. In 2016, the Portland Sea Dogs moved to nearby Manchester, New Hampshire and became the New Hampshire Fisher Cats; they are now an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Salem was founded in 1626 by William Blackstone (1605–1675) who had been an English Puritan leader and one of its signers during Colonial times. He was elected Deputy Governor in 1629 but fled after a change of government when Roger Williams (credited with founding Rhode Island) began advocating greater religious tolerance than Blackstone believed acceptable for society at that time; he returned to England where he died shortly thereafter on November 8th or 9th 1675 aged 70 years old. It is said that his dying words were "I will lay me down and bleed awhile.