The original Friendship was built in Salem by Enos Briggs’s shipyard at Stage Point on the South River. She launched May 28, 1797, weighing 342 tons. The Friendship was 102 feet long and 27 feet, 7 inches wide. She regularly recorded speeds of 10 knots and was known to have logged a top speed of 12 knots. She made 15 voyages during her career and visited Batavia, India, China, South America, the Caribbean, England, Germany, the Mediterranean and Russia.

Although Nathaniel West came into wealth in the shadow of the Derby family, he was renowned in his own right. A shipmaster and the captain of a privateer during the Revolutionary War, West was the first Salem captain to sail around the world. Take the time to visit the Salem Maritime National Historic Site or any of the private museums and attractions to learn more about the life of pirates and privateers who harbored here long before our nation’s founding.

Prior to being converted into today’s Salem Inn, West House was a men’s boarding house. The original "house rules" still hang in the hallway by the office and are a great read. Most of these no longer apply, but we’d still appreciate our guests not smoking in bed.

Some think of Salem as a place of magical potions and concoctions. This room was once that of Aroline Gove, daughter of Lydia E. Pinkham. Both worked at the Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Company. The company started in Lydia’s cellar, where she made her famous vegetable compound remedy that claimed to be able to cure any feminine ailments. Originally, they shared it with neighbors, but then they started selling the compound to more and more women, leading Lydia to earn the title as the “savior of her sex”. There was never any medical proof found that her remedies worked and some health experts saw this as quackery, but millions of satisfied users swore by Lydia’s product. Lydia and Aroline are part of the entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well in Salem today.