[In July 2025 the president upgraded this park from a historic site to a historical park]. Per Tripadvisor, this site doesn’t even make the top 10 things to do in Salem Massachusetts. Honestly, I would recommend the Peabody Essex Museum, the House of Seven Gables, and a nighttime witch walking tour before I’d send someone here. Not that it isn’t an interesting site that describes the port’s peak between the Revolution and the War of 1812, it’s just that there’s a lot of fascinating history in Salem outside the park.

In the several 18th century buildings near the wharf run by the park service, you can learn about the British East India Company, trade with the West Indies, slave traders, Polish immigrants, and more than you wanted to know about how goods cleared customs and were taxed (Hawthorne worked there but spent his time thinking up The Scarlet Letter). There’s a replica tall ship, the Friendship, docked on the wharf, but it’s under restoration—looks better inside. The 19th century Derby Light Station above still functions (solar, upgraded from oil) and sits at the end of historic Derby Wharf, which is quite long and gives folks a nice view of the harbor.