History

The North Salem Improvement Society was founded in 1931. It was responsible for opening the first Library in town, purchasing our town's first Fire Truck, establishing the town's Historical Society, refurbishing Delancey Hall as the Town Hall, building Bridle Paths and organizing the first Recycling programs.

Today we sponsor the town's annual roadside cleanup, maintain some of the triangles and flower beds around town, arrange for special recycling events such as Electronic Recycling Day, maintain the Welcome to North Salem signs, and, of course, sponsor the Christmas Eve tree lighting ceremony. At our Annual Meeting we have had programs on Gardening, Tree Preservation, Climate Control, and so much more.

A Brief History

Public Library - NSIS opened the first free library in North Salem in 1932 on the second floor of Delancey Hall. The Society operated and financed the library until its incorporation in 1935, and after that continued with additional financial support for many years.

Fire Truck - NSIS financed the purchase of the first fire truck for the North Salem-Salem Center district. Over $10,750 was raised in 1950.

Delancey Hall - NSIS furnished two rooms in the hall for meetings in 1932. Later converted the unheated, unlighted, waterless building into a refurbished building for Town Hall use.

Historical Society - NSIS launched the successful drive to establish our town's historical society which received its charter in 1969; conducted a house tour for financing this project.

Bridle Paths - NSIS established bridle paths in the 1930s and supervised their maintenance.

Unemployment - during the 1930s organized a committee, NSIS financed by four Society members, which gave financial aid to fellow townspeople.

Blood Bank - NSIS worked actively to stimulate interest in blood-bank programs and arranged for the Red Cross Blood Mobile Unit in 1971.

Dogwood Trees - from its inception the Society planted dozens of flowering dogwood trees in select locations along our roadsides.

Roadside Clean-up - for over two decades NSIS organized an annual road-side litter clean-up campaign with the willing assistance of our Highway Department.

Christmas Eve - NSIS assumed the responsibility for the town Christmas tree sight and replaced the trees as necessary over the decades, as well as hosting the annual event.

Roadside Triangles - NSIS worked with our highway department to establish planting areas (they build, we plant!) at several intersections throughout town.

E-waste Recycling - organized two events to help residents safely dispose of their electronic equipment.