New Salem Common Historic District

Centered on a two-acre common set aside by the first proprietors of a plantation granted in 1734, this New Salem district extends along South Main Street at roughly 1,000 feet elevation. It holds 43 buildings and sites, mostly from the 19th century, among shaded streets, stone walls and open space. Anchors include the First Congregational Church of 1794, the Third Congregational Church of 1854, the Old Academy of 1838, the 1908 New Salem Academy building with its clock tower, and the Old Town Hall of 1838, built with surplus federal revenue. Center Cemetery, begun with a stone dated 1745, the Town Pound, and several memorial markers add to the group. After the Revolution the town prospered through farming, lumbering and stagecoach trade, then declined once railroads bypassed it. Fires destroyed many records, so the surviving buildings serve as the main evidence of the town's past, including the academy chartered in 1795.