Salem (MBTA Station) - History

History

The Salem station was originally in what is now Riley Plaza, just south of the downtown businesses along Washington Street. The first structure, built in 1838, was a wooden structure with a train shed. It was replaced in 1847 with a medieval-style structure with two towers and a large granite archway through which trains would pass. Despite damage remaining from an 1882 fire, it had become a local landmark by the time it was demolished in 1954. In 1958, the B&M extended the Salem tunnel to the south, and soon after built a station in the southern approach span. However, the station lacked modern elements like parking capacity and elevators to make the below-ground-level platforms handicapped accessible. In 1987, the MBTA abandoned the station and built the present station at the north end of the tunnel. The 1959 station building remains at 89 Margin Street; it has been converted into a private school. The platforms remain extant in the tunnel approach, as do rusted pieces of staircases from Mill Street and a pedestrian overpass behind the station building.

The current location of the station has its own railroad history: a wye junction was situated there in the mid-1800s, allowing trains northbound from Boston to continue north to Portsmouth, New Hampshire or to turn west over the Essex Branch Railroad to Peabody, Danvers, and Lowell. For decades there was an engine roundhouse inside the wye. This structure, along with its coaling tower and water tank, also was demolished in the mid-20th century; however, a signal tower near the north end of the tunnel remains. The granite block foundation of the roundhouse was covered over to make the parking lot rather than fully removed. In early 2012, engineers found it using ground penetrating radar while examining the site in preparation for the new parking garage. The remains were unearthed in December 2012 during construction.

The section of the wye leading to the Essex Branch Railroad has been paved over, but the north side of the wye still carries occasional freight trains operated by Pan Am Railways.