[4] The city is named after Francisco Antonio Salcedo who fought in the northwestern part of the country against the Haitian army during the Dominican-Haitian War after the Dominican independence from Haiti in 1844.

Salcedo is located in the Cibao Valley, south of the Cordillera Septentrional (in English, "Northern mountain range").

It was made a Puesto cantonal (an old category that now is called Municipal District) in 1880 as part of the old La Vega province.

Farming is the only economic activity in the municipality, except for some very small industries; the main products are plantain, cassava and cacao.

The city became widely known outside of the Dominican Republic due to the YouTube video with an unusual request from the listener of a local radio station to play a song with the words "Esas son Reebok o son Nike" (meaning "Are they Reebok or Nike?").