Pre-Colonial Era The area currently known as Salisbury was inhabited for tens of thousands of years prior to European colonization. At the Morrill Point burial mound site on the north shore of the Merrimack River, there are human remains dating to 7,000 years ago with some dating suggesting settlement there as early as 8,500 years ago. At the time of European contact and colonization, the area north of the Merrimack River was inhabited by the
Pentucket Tribe of the
Pennacook confederation, who lived at the coastline seasonally to fish in the coastal wetlands. Unlike other towns of what would become Essex County that negotiated the terms of European settlement with native inhabitants, and laid out in a compact defensive arrangement with a garrison house, night watch, and militia for the purpose of defending against native attack.
Colonial Era Salisbury was colonized by the
English in 1638 as Colchester, and incorporated in 1640 as Salisbury, after
Salisbury in
Wiltshire, England, the birthplace of Christopher Batt who was appointed to train the colonists' militia. The original residents, including Richard Currier, were given one small house lot near the center of town, and one larger planting lot just outside the center for
farming. Families also owned large sections of "sweepage lots" near the beach, where apparently they harvested the
salt marsh hay. At the time, the area was almost entirely unbroken
virgin forest, which had to be cleared for the construction of houses and the planting of fields. Richard Currier was a millwright and was one of the original settlers of Salisbury. He is listed in the first division of house lots in 1640 and received additional land in 1641 and 1642. In 1654 there were sixty commoners in Salisbury and they voted that thirty families were to be chosen to move west of the
Powwow River. Eighteen of these families were commoners and the number of commoners were increased to 26 by the time Salisbury New Town became the town of
Amesbury in 1668. Richard heads the list of the eighteen commoners and was one of the signers to the Articles of Agreement between the inhabitants of the Old Town and those of the New Town, 1 May 1654.
Resort Era In 1866, Beach Road was constructed across Great Marsh, providing access to the town's of pristine beach. It developed into a thriving summer resort, lined with hotels, restaurants, shops, cottages,
arcades and
amusement parks. A
carousel called
The Flying Horses, hand carved by
Charles I. D. Looff, was installed in 1914.
John Miller built
The Sky Rocket, the beach's first
roller coaster. A
Dodgem ride, originally built by Max and Harold Stoeher of
Methuen, operated at Salisbury Beach in one form or another from 1920 to 1980. Major entertainers provided concerts, including
Glenn Miller,
Ella Fitzgerald,
Louis Armstrong,
Frank Sinatra and
Liberace. The resort remained vibrant through the 1960s, then gradually faded.
WildCat, the last roller coaster, was razed in 1976. Pirate's Fun Park, the last small amusement park, closed in 2004 to be replaced with
condominiums. Due to
climate change, Salisbury's coastline has begun rapidly eroding. In March of 2024, several beachfront residents had paid $565,000 for artificial sand dunes as protection for the beachfront houses, only for it to be washed away within three days following a severe storm. File:Hotel Cushing, Salisbury Beach, MA.jpg|Hotel Cushing File:The Surf, Salisbury Beach, MA.jpg|The surf in 1906 File:Transfer Station, Salisbury Beach, MA.jpg|Transfer Station File:The Flying Horses, Salisbury Beach, MA.jpg|
The Flying Horses File:The Frolics, Salisbury Beach, Mass (78742).jpg|The Frolics, Salisbury Beach, Mass. File:The jetties, Salisbury Beach, Mass (70125).jpg|The jetties, Salisbury Beach ==Geography==