As far as the Witch Trial Exabits goes - I agree - Not much to see. But Salem MA is a very nice town to visit with old New England charm (not during October). Excellent sea-food restaurants.
When I was a kid, my dad told me that D was for dig and R was for race. 
At the moment I don’t recall what he said the P, N, and L stood for but he had similar terms for those.
Let us not forget Salem’s Lot in Maine
There’s a lot of Salems out there.
Anyone know what the capital of Oregon is?
Salem.
That is just one of the many reasons why Zip Codes were adopted, back in the early '60s.
In NJ, we have 5 Washington Townships (all in different counties), and one Washington Borough. Just imagine how many detours a letter frequently had to make before it reached the right destination (back in the Good Old Days, prior to Zip Codes) when it was addressed to someone whose address was on Main Street, in Washington, NJ.
There was a movie where the dad would tell his son to put the car in low, at that time I did not know the Ford-O-Matics and Merc-O-Matics started in second if Drive was selected.
I guess after 50 years I at least understand now but why you would want to stsrt off in second gear instead of first not evident. 90% of driving has to be on clear dry streets and not ice. Must be some other reason the ford folks would want to do this.
My Pontiac just has “”M” on the shifter. No low. It just allows manual shifting within certain parameters. I just use it when pulling the trailer so I can shift without slipping and keep it out of 4th.
I used D2 only during slippery winter driving conditions.
My guess, provided slightly better fuel economy. Back then three on the tree was better for MPG.
The Ford-O-Matic and Merco-Matic transmissions when introduced in 1951 had a torque converter which multiplies the torque similar to a lower gear. Those transmissions were 3 speed, but would only start in first if the selector was placed. In “L”. When Chevrolet introduced its Powerglide in 1950 and Buick marketed the Dynaflow in 1948, these transmissions depended on the torque converter for normal starts from a stop. There was a low gear when “L” was selected. In 1953, Chevrolet modified the transmission to start in low when “D” was selected.
What is interesting is that Lincoln, in 1950 and later years used the GM Hydramatic. This Hydramatic had 4 forward speds and always started in the lowest gear. The Hydramatic had a fluid coupling which doesn’t multiply the torque. In 1952, the Hydramatic was modified to a dual range which had D1 which allowed the transmission to start in first and D2 which allowed the transmission to start in 2nd. On the Oldsmobile, the transmission selector had D and S as opposed to D1 and D2.
I hope my memory is correct after more than 70 years.