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Show Salem's Lesson One hundred years ego Salem faced a severe problem. Trade embargoes, em-bargoes, the opening of the Erie canal, which diverted shipping Vines to New York, and other factors had made her port a second-rate harbor along the New England coast. For years Salem had been our chief mercantile gateway to the Orient. It appeared in 1839 that Salem was definitely to remain a forgotten city. But Salem turned from its shipping to manufacturing. Steam power had just come to the attention of New Englanders and a courageous group of citizens turned the power of steam into its development of the New England textile industry. Salem Sa-lem soon boasted of the founding of the first cotton mill in the United States run by steam. It is a fine example of New England ingenuity. |