Welcome to New Jersey! Salem is less than an hour from my house. New Jersey is called the Garden State. We're still known for our tomatoes. They're called the Jersey tomato and is also one of the top states that still produces tomatoes. All grown from our local farmers. Property taxes are insane here im in a 1100 sq house and they raised me to 10,700 a year! Sad this state is to expensive to live anymore

Jersey tomatoes are number one in the country. We never stopped producing them.

It's a shame what the loss of manufacturing has done to this country.  My father worked in a glass manufacturing plant. He was still working when the shift toward plastic started. He used to tell me to buy products sold in glass containers. The plant ran 24/7. High water damaged one of the glass making furnaces and the owner of the company couldn't get financing to repair the furnace. Dad retired at 62, fearful that if he might not get the pension if he worked further. My father used to always say he could get me a job there. I was young and dumb. Said I didn't want to end like him. The plant eventually closed and years later I found out he privately confided in my mom how glad he was I never took him up on his offer of employment. Miss you Dad.😢

Don't forget the historic Salem oak tree that lived past 500 years and finally fell in June 2019. The state has taken seedlings from this tree and planted them at various historic spots around the state.

I am 64 years old and i never thought how America would be like this all in every state,  cities,  towns  are disappearing,, alot has to do with all good jobs left America,

NJ has glauconite in it's soil, especially in South Jersey.  It's a marine sediment leftover in the soil from when the land was still forming before human history.  It acts as a slow release fertilizer, which is why NJ is also known as The Garden State, because the soil is quite fertile.  And the sand from the Pine Barrens/Pinelands not only made Salem a big glass producer, but Millville as well.  There were glass factories in the Millville-Vineland areas.  A brewery in Millville even named themselves Glasstown Brewing.  The sand is also good for growing blueberries and the town of Hammonton produces about 80% of NJ's blueberries and is referred to as the Blueberry Capitol of the World.  
Years ago I had a sales route that included the town of Salem.  It was a rough area 25 years ago.

Your video was very well done. I am a city of Salem resident and volunteer firefighter and YouTuber. The town surely is depressed, but there are amazing people here and still a lot of people that care. We are still trying to find our footing after industry left. But there are signs of industry wanting to come back. I actually sent your video to the city fire chief because of how clearly your camera shows many of our structures. I felt it could be used as a pre planning mechanism for us. Hopefully, if we can make improvements in the future, you could come back and do another video down the road. Also, the port is very much open. And although it is not technically deep water, there is still one medium sized container ship that calls every week here with service to Bermuda. It is the Bermuda Islander, and it keeps that island living. In addition to that, tugboats bring barges frequently for sand import and export.

Fascinating and heartbreaking at the same time. The beautiful old architecture amid creepy quietness. Thank you, Joe.

Poor Salem, it was a wonderful town when I was young. I don't ever remember the port ever being used much. The Glass factory was Anchor Hocking Glass. They used Silica sand from the Port Norris sand plant. Port Norris Trucking would send an 18-wheeler every 20 minutes with sand. All day and night non-stop. In the summer the tomato trucks would line the streets waiting to be unloaded. The smell of the Ketchup was so good. Go East you will end up in Cumberland County. Bridgeton NJ had Owens-Illinois Glass. P.J. Ritter Ketchup, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, 7UP and Frank's soda Bottling companies all needing glass bottles. Next two towns were Millville with Wheaton Glass and Vineland with Kimble Glass. I hope that doesn't make me sound that old.

My daughter worked as a music teacher in the Salem area for a time and we were amazed at the beautiful architecture and history of this town.  The first tomato in America was publicly eaten on the court house steps.  It was an active stop on the Underground Railroad as well.  I hope this town rebounds, it has so much potential.

One of my nicest childhood memories. That would be over 60 years ago. The town where my grandfather was born and I get to go visit my great grandmother in Salem. What a beautiful, small town that was at one time.😢

Dutchie here. It never ceases to amaze me that emptied buildings, in all of Joe & Nic's reports across the US are just left standing there until nature takes over...
In NL that's just not done and our government makes sure that such buildings are dismantled and it's materials recycled where possible, or these buildings get protected by our monument laws, when applicable. A law that fortunately also still exists in the US, but seems not to be applied as widely as over here. Sad to see all this history falling into decay...
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Jersey tomatoes is still popping and the blueberries in Hammonton

Oh God my heart is breaking looking at some of these beautiful buildings and homes

I worked there briefly. I never was afraid there. I also thought it was charming. We totally still grow the best tomatoes!

What a beautiful little town. So sad to see it crumbling.

It is remarkable how the loss of one company can negatively affect the lives of so many.  A solid example of profits over people.

I grew up in their area. The glass plant used to be Anchor Hocking and was essentially the largest employer in the town. They were already struggling and their only customer was Snapple for the 16 ounce bottles. Snapple chose to not renew their contract in 2014 which shut the plant down. The brick building across the street was the main office for the plant. I actually turned in a few applications to work there over the years. As far as being a food desert, there was an IGA but it got robbed out of existence. There is a Walmart on the edge of Pennsville and Salem, that’s the closest place to food shop for them. Not far from where you were is the Salem Nuclear Power Plant; they definitely wouldn’t let you film there though lol. In the area Pennsville and Penns Grove have tons of historic sites

I lived and worked in Salem for a little while. There are many problems and issues with the city. Not the least of which being there really isn't any opportunity or jobs to be had within the city limits. And once jobs leave and wages continue to go down you have property values plummet. This invites the predatory landlord to come in because now they have section 8 which is guaranteed income for them if they accept it. The tenants don't take care of the property and the landlord generally doesn't care because he just has to make it slightly habitable and he'll get that guaranteed rent from the state coming in. I should know I used to work with one of those landlords who considered themselves a real estate investor. That cycle just continues

I sold antique items (including Mason jars blown in Salem) until last year when the place there on Market St. changed hands. Every time I drove thru Salem, which was weekly for quite awhile, it was depressing to me to see what has happened to a once-thriving city, home to the world-famous Salem Oak, which fell a couple years ago. Open drug dealing in broad daylight was common on most of my rides through downtown. Such a shame to see these great old buildings rotting away, along with the people.