PROJECT OVERVIEW
Sites: Pioneer Village and Camp Naumkeag
Project Type: Proposed relocation of historic interpretive site
Lead Entity: City of Salem
Move From: 98 West Avenue (Forest River Park)
Proposed Location: 85 Memorial Drive (Salem Willows)
Pioneer Village is an open-air living history museum established in 1930 as part of the Massachusetts Tercentenary celebration.
Designed as an immersive educational experience, Pioneer Village recreated a 17th-century Salem settlement through a collection of reconstructed buildings, gardens, and costumed interpreters who portrayed early colonial life. The project attracted thousands of visitors in its early decades and is widely recognized as one of the earliest living history museums in the United States.
The Village currently occupies a waterfront location within Forest River Park. In recent years the City of Salem has explored relocating some of the site’s buildings to the Camp Naumkeag property at the Salem Willows. Camp Naumkeag was originally developed around 1910 as a tuberculosis treatment camp and retains historic structures associated with that use.
City officials have framed the relocation proposal as a long-term climate adaptation strategy. The current Pioneer Village location sits close to sea level and is increasingly vulnerable to flooding and sea-level rise. Relocating the buildings would allow the City to expand interpretation of the site’s history, improve accessibility, and integrate the story of Camp Naumkeag and the Massachusett Tribe into the visitor experience.
WHY IT MATTERS
Historic Salem, Inc. (HSI) has followed the future of Pioneer Village for more than two decades.
The site was added to HSI’s Most Endangered Historic Resources list in 2003, reflecting longstanding concerns about the condition of the buildings and the need for a sustainable plan for the museum’s future.
Since 2021, HSI representatives have participated in discussions with the City of Salem and other stakeholders through the Pioneer Village and Camp Naumkeag Advisory Group. Through meeting participation, formal correspondence, and consultation with the Salem Historical Commission, HSI has sought to ensure that any future plan protects the historic significance of both Pioneer Village and the Camp Naumkeag site.
Preservation questions surrounding the proposed relocation are complex. Pioneer Village is historically significant not only for its individual buildings but also as a commemorative cultural landscape associated with the Massachusetts Tercentenary and the early development of living history museums. At the same time, the Forest River Park location faces increasing climate-related threats that may affect the long-term preservation of the site.
HSI has focused its advocacy on several key issues, including transparency around relocation costs, evaluation of alternatives to moving the buildings, the treatment of historic structures at Camp Naumkeag, and—most importantly—a clear and durable funding commitment to support the future operation, maintenance, and interpretation of the museum. HSI has consistently emphasized that without a long-term operating and capital funding plan, significant investment in relocation could ultimately fail to sustain the site’s educational mission.
As of early 2026, the project continues to move through City review processes and funding discussions, including consideration by the Community Preservation Committee.
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