Historic Salem

Salem Autumn Walk

History and magic in the City of Witches

By Sean Conneely

Staring at an antique lantern in Salem, Massachusetts, I found myself considering the various patterns of light that lanterns give off. In colonial times, lanterns were stamped with unique designs so you could identify your neighbors in the dark of night by the pattern of their lantern.

I was also playing a mental game, trying to see how long I could go without thinking about the infamous witch trials that took place in this town more than 300 years ago. Ironically, I was standing in the one building in Salem that actually has ties to the tragic events of 1692.

Salem witch museum

I was in the former home of Judge Jonathan Corwin, a magistrate who investigated some of the claims and served on the court that ultimately condemned 20 innocent people to death. The house, built in the mid-1600s in a style known as First Period Architecture, is furnished with period pieces and decorated with antique items, such as the aforementioned tin lantern. It downplays Corwin's connection with the trials and promotes itself as a remarkable example of 17th century architecture—but it still goes by the name of the Witch House.

Salem has not always embraced its controversial past. For centuries, people tried to distance themselves from the hysteria that swept through the town in 1692. Salem's favorite literary son, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864), even added a "w" to his last name to disassociate himself from his ancestor John Hathorne, who presided over the trials.

The striking House of the Seven Gables, on which Hawthorne based his novel of the same name, can be visited as part of a collection of historic buildings from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The austere house where the author was born is among them—other buildings on the site are the Retire Becket House, Hooper Hathaway House, Phippen House and the Counting House. Interestingly, the seven-gabled mansion only had four in Hawthorne's time. He based part of his novel on stories he heard from Susannah Ingersoll, who lived in the house in the mid-1800s.

After my visits to Corwin's and Hawthorne's homes, I took a walk. Salem is built for walking, with many of its most prominent attractions within a few miles of each other.

I strolled through the Essex Street pedestrian mall. Every October, the city takes on a Mardi Gras feel as it hosts a month-long celebration of all things spooky and mysterious. The festival boasts ghost tours, parades and costume balls for young and old alike. At this time of year, Essex Street pulses with excitement and activity. Street performers enchant visitors and vendors keep up a steady business, vying for customers. Nearly everyone is in costume, and the outfits are not half-hearted, last-minute attempts.

I began my tour of Salem's past and present, appropriately enough, at the Salem Witch Museum. The museum, which opened in 1972, was the first tourist attraction in Salem that openly addressed the town's infamous past. Its success paved the way for many more museums, shows and tours.

Through narrative and life-size dioramas, the museum's presentation recounts those dark days surrounding the trials when the actions of a group of adolescent girls—and the adults who believed them—turned the region upside down, leading to the execution of 20 innocent people. Nineteen were hanged and one man was crushed to death. Before the hysteria subsided, some of the girls admitted their antics and claims had nothing to do with a witch's spell, but rather had been for "sport."

After the dramatic retelling of the events, I was amazed at how eerily quiet the room was as we all shuffled out. There's something about the Salem witch trials, I think, that makes people uneasy about how they, too, have judged others.

Next I made my way to the Witch Dungeon Museum (the museum names in Salem get a little confusing). This museum is divided into two parts, the first being a short dramatic performance based on actual court transcripts from 1692, in which the wrongly accused Elizabeth Proctor defends herself from her accuser, Abigail Williams. If you're familiar with Arthur Miller's classic play, The Crucible, you will remember Elizabeth and Abigail as central characters.

The second phase of the museum is where the "dungeon" comes in. In the 1950s, construction workers in downtown Salem discovered the actual jail cells used during the trials. Unfortunately, they were not preserved, but the museum has re-created them, giving visitors a small taste of what it might have been like to be imprisoned in the late 1600s. What struck me most was the "coffin cells," which, as the name implies, were not much larger than a coffin.

Because no one knows where the men and women who were wrongly executed in 1692 are buried, a stone memorial was constructed and dedicated in 1992 to mark the tercentenary of the trials. The simple, somber memorial consists of large granite slabs, each bearing the name of a victim.

Salem witch house

Later that day, earthy aromas of incense intoxicated my senses as I browsed through Hex, one of Salem's many modern shops catering to magical tastes. I asked the store's co-owner, Christian Day, why a town that is so well-known for hanging people falsely accused of witchcraft has become a mecca for modern-day practitioners.

For Day, it makes perfect sense. "What better opportunity to educate people about what a real witch is?" he says. The town even has an official witch—Laurie Cabot, who moved here 40 years ago. I am not sure how much I believe in magic, but I did find myself leaving Day's shop with a "Love Spell" candle.

The next day, I take a scenic drive, though I confess that it was hard to leave Salem behind—the city does get under your skin. Following Route 1A, I head north toward Beverly, Massachusetts and then east on Route 127 toward Rockport.

If you're in the Salem area during October, this drive is a wonderful way to experience Mother Nature's autumnal color pageant. Shocking yellows, fiery reds and electric oranges line the road at the peak of fall foliage. And, as a treat for land-locked Coloradans, you will also be treated to a number of expansive ocean views.

Later, as I pass through Salem on my way back to Boston, I am reminded of something Christian Day told me.

"People come to Salem for the magic. And if they're lucky, they take some home with them."

I glance at my Love Spell candle and am happy to be leaving with that, rather than a tin lantern.

If You Go

Born and bred in Massachusetts, Sean Conneely now makes his home in northern Colorado.