National Park Service Visitor Center in Salem

Salem Maritime NHS Orientation Center

NPS photo.

The Regional Visitor Center in Salem is in the 1895 drill shed. This is all that remains of the old armory of the Second Corps of Cadets, a unit of the Massachusetts National Guard.

The National Park Service Visitor Center
2 New Liberty Street, Salem

Located on New Liberty Street across from the municipal parking garage and next to the Peabody Essex Museum, the National Park Service Visitor Center is an ideal place to begin your visit to Salem and the Essex National Heritage Area. National Park Service Rangers and Volunteers will welcome you to the city and to the Heritage Area, and help you plan your visit.

Click here to go to the web site of the Essex National Heritage Area. This link will open in a new window.

The Regional Visitor Center is open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM seven days a week. 

The Regional Visitor Center is closed on January 1, Thanksgiving, and December 25.

Click here to see the schedule for the award-winning film on the history of Essex County, "Where Past is Present."

NPS photo.

The Orientation Center at Salem Maritime NHS was once a warehouse.  Built in the 1770s, it stood on Front Street in Salem until it was moved to Central Wharf at Salem Maritime in 1976.

Salem Maritime National Historic Site Orientation Center
193 Derby Street

The Orientation Center on Derby Street is the ideal place to begin your visit to Salem Maritime NHS. Here, you can see our free orientation film, To the Farthest Ports of the Rich East, pick up a Junior Ranger program for the kids, and buy a ticket to see the historic buildings and replica tall ship Friendship.

Click here for more information about hours and the free orientation film.

Click here for our tour fees.

Click here for our guided tour schedule.