Before the American Revolution The land which currently comprises North Salem has been inhabited for about 12,000 years. Prior to the American Revolution, the area which would become the town of North Salem was home to the
Algonquian peoples, who lived in the village of Pequenakonck, where the hamlet of Peach Lake is today. Although Dutch explorers entered the area in the 1600s, permanent European settlement only occurred in the early 1700s.
Revolutionary Era During the late
Colonial Era, what would become North Salem and its neighboring town of
South Salem were a single municipality, Salem. After the breakout of the
American Revolutionary War in 1776, town residents sided with the revolutionary cause. On September 22, 1780, amidst the war,
John Paulding and
Isaac Van Wart left from what was later known as the Yerkes Tavern, joined by
David Williams. Their expedition resulted in the capture of the British spy
Major John André. The foundation of Yerkes (Yerks) Tavern is all that is left of the historic building, once at the intersection of Yerkes Road and Bogtown Road. An historic plaque posted on the site reads:On this site stood one of North Salem's early taverns. Its proprietor was John Yerkes, who received a license from the town "to operate a tavern or inn for the accommodation and entertainment of travelers" in 1815. Early records indicate that this property was owned by the Smith family prior to this date.In late May 1784, soon after the end of the American Revolution, Salem split into two towns. What would become known as North Salem was known as Upper Salem for about four years after the split, until an act of the
New York State Legislature in 1788 gave the town its modern name. New York State began operating under a policy of gradual abolition in 1799, with full abolition in 1827; the practice of slavery in North Salem can therefore be estimated to have come to an end sometime between the years 1800 and 1827. The
Great Blizzard of 1888, which impacted communities across the northeastern United States, seriously disrupted agricultural production in North Salem and prevented train movement. It took over a week after the storm to restore roads and trains to operational order. In 1893, the
Titicus Reservoir began serving the New York City water supply. Today, the reservoir is stocked with brown trout each spring and fishing from rowboats is permitted.
Modern History In 1932, the North Salem Free Library was established in the North Salem Town House. It was formally chartered by the State of New York in 1952 and later renamed the Ruth Keeler Memorial Library. Its current building was constructed in 1980 and renovated most recently in 2003. The town experienced a population boom around the middle of the twentieth century, nearly tripling in size between the 1940 and 1980 U.S. Censuses. Beginning in the late 1960s,
Interstate 684 was constructed through North Salem. When finished in 1974, the new interstate included an exit on Hardscrabble Road. North Salem's
Union Hall was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In 2015, a small Cessna aircraft crashed into the Titicus Reservoir, killing both passengers. ==Geography==