Vital Records / Geneology

The City Clerk is the City Registrar of Salem Vital Records, which includes the recording of all birth, death, and marriage records occurring in Salem. These records, from 1634 to 1900, are available to the public for genealogy research. Records from 1900 to the present are closed, and require the assistance of the City Clerk's staff in order to research these records.

Certified copies of all birth, death and marriage records are available either in person or through the mail.

To obtain a copy of a record by mail, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: City Clerk's Office, City Hall, 93 Washington Street, Salem, Massachusetts, 01970. All requests received by mail are immediately processed and mailed out within one working day. Genealogy requests will take longer to process.

The fee for the record is $10.00, payable in cash, check (payable to the City of Salem), or money order.

Requests should include the name of the individual, and the date of birth, death, or marriage (if known). If doing genealogy research, and exact date is not known, then provide us with an approximate time frame to research.

For further information, contact the City Clerk's Office at 978-745-9595 ext. 41200