The Salem Maritime National Historic Site encompasses nine historic structures and three wharves along Derby Street, preserving the commercial heart of what was once one of America's most important seaports. The centrepiece is Derby Wharf, which stretches 2,000 feet into Salem Harbor, flanked by the Derby House (1762), the Custom House (1819), and the Bonded Warehouse.
The Friendship of Salem, a 171-foot full-rigged replica of an 1797 East Indiaman, is usually berthed at Derby Wharf and open for tours — the best way to understand the scale of the ships that carried Salem's merchants to Sumatra, Java, and Zanzibar. The Custom House, where Hawthorne spent three miserable years as a federal bureaucrat, is open as a small museum. Ranger-led tours of the district are free and worth taking; book at the visitor centre on Derby Street.