Salisbury is a small coastal beach town and summer tourist destination in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States.

The community is a popular summer resort beach town situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of Boston on the New Hampshire border.

It is home to the new Salisbury Beach Boardwalk, full of souvenir shops, restaurants, cafes, arcades and panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean.

[3][4] At the time of European contact and colonization, the area north of the Merrimack River was inhabited by the Pentucket Tribe of the Pennacook confederation,[5] who lived at the coastline seasonally to fish in the coastal wetlands.

[6] Unlike other towns of what would become Essex County that negotiated the terms of European settlement with native inhabitants,[5] Salisbury was settled under the jurisdiction of a land grant from the Massachusetts Bay Colony General Court[7][8] and laid out in a compact defensive arrangement with a garrison house, night watch, and militia for the purpose of defending against native attack.

[9] The original settlement was laid out in a compact semicircle, which allowed the residents to quickly reach the garrison house, out of a fear of attack by surrounding native peoples.

Families also owned large sections of "sweepage lots" near the beach, where apparently they harvested the salt marsh hay.

In 1654 there were sixty commoners in Salisbury and they voted that thirty families were to be chosen to move west of the Powwow River.

It developed into a thriving summer resort, lined with hotels, restaurants, shops, cottages, arcades and amusement parks.

A Dodgem ride, originally built by Max and Harold Stoeher of Methuen, operated at Salisbury Beach in one form or another from 1920 to 1980.

Major entertainers provided concerts, including Glenn Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and Liberace.

Salisbury is the northernmost town in Massachusetts, with its northwestern corner (where Elmwood Street meets the New Hampshire border) being at approximately 42°53'12.26".

The Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority provides local bus service connecting Salisbury to nearby communities.