The Salem River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 30 mi (48 km) long, in southwestern New Jersey in the United States.

It rises in central Salem County, near Pole Tavern, and flows WNW, through largely agricultural and forested lowlands, past Woodstown. It approaches to within 2 mi (3 km) of the Delaware, then flows south, widening into a meandering shallow estuary, approximately 10 mi (16 km) long, entering the Delaware from the east near its mouth on Delaware Bay, approximately 3 mi (5 km) southeast of Finns Point. It is navigable as far as Salem on the south bank of the estuary, approximately 3 mi (5 km) from its mouth.

The area of the river was inhabited by Lenape in colonial times. Fort Elfsborg, a settlement of the New Sweden colony, was constructed along the eastern bank of the river near its mouth in 1642-1643. The fort was later abandoned because of the prevalence of mosquitoes. The English later founded the village of Salem in 1675 at the mouth of the river as part of the Fenwick Colony.

See also

• List of New Jersey rivers

External links

• NJ Waters: Salem River watershed (http://www.njwaters.com/watershed/78.htm)
• Get NJ: Salem County history (http://www.getnj.com/historicroadsides/salem.shtml)