The records of the Salem Turnpike and Chelsea Bridge Corporation document the establishment, operation, and decline of the business from its beginning to its dissolution. The collection is divided into three series.

Series I. Administrative Records documents actions taken towards the establishment and running of the corporation. The record books and correspondence include the Act of Incorporation; rules and regulations, reports of committees, pertinent notes; proxies; and list of subscribers. Located here is also a list of the "Original Petitioners for the Salem Turnpike and Chelsea Bridge Corporation."

Contained in the folder of legal papers are indentures, agreements, legal notices, and papers covering legal actions taken relative to compensation for damages to various parties as a result of laying out the turnpike. Also included is a copy of an opinion rendered by Daniel Webster in 1822 on an indenture entered between John Pickering and directors of the Salem Turnpike and Chelsea Bridge Corporation.

Financial papers include yearly summaries of tolls, receipts and expenditures, net income and related information. These include returns made to the Commonwealth, conforming to a requirement of the Act of Incorporation that a report of the receipts and expenditures be submitted annually to the Governor and Council. Also noted on some of these papers is the original cost for the road and bridge.

Series II. Business Records contains a small amount of business correspondence (mostly relating to the rental of the Lynn Hotel on The Salem Turnpike); accounts books for Salem Turnpike and Chelsea Bridge Corporation; a summary list of cattle, tools, and sundry articles sold at Lynn and Charlestown auctions; and miscellaneous papers which contain various notes, accounts and miscellaneous items. Some of these papers appear to be related to the possibility of the proposed Eastern Railroad harming the Turnpike's business.

Series III. Toll Records consists of the daily, weekly, and quarterly summaries of toll collections made on both the Salem Turnpike and Chelsea Bridge. The daily and weekly collection accounts show the number, toll charge, and types of passage (such as coaches, chariots, carts, wagons, chaises, etc.,) Although both the turnpike and the bridge each have quarterly summaries, the toll books included in the collection are much more extensive for the turnpike than for the bridge.