Published on 03/2/2008

Experience Reenactment of the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts

The National Park Service Salem Visitor Center is a good place to start a tour of Salem, Massachusetts. The Visitor Center is located at 2 New Liberty Street. This is a central location to many of Salem’s attractions, and they are within an easy walk along the Heritage Trail.

Around the corner on Essex Street is Peabody Essex Museum. This museum was founded in 1799 as the Salem East India Society. The museum’s preeminent collections contain over 1,000,000 objects that include:

• The finest maritime art in the United States
• Art and cultures of North America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands
• Three centuries of American life in historic period houses
• The Phillips Library houses original court documents of the Salem Witch Trials
• Ongoing and special exhibitions

There is a museum shop and café, and it is open year round:

• Monday through Sunday: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day

Admission cost (effective as of March 2008)

• Adults: $13
• Seniors $11
• Students $9 Youth (16 and under)
• Salem, Massachusetts residents are admitted for free.
• Members are admitted free to all sites

The Phillips Library contains local historical resources such as:

• genealogical information
• early photographs
• local memorabilia
• and documents

All of the above date back to Salem’s founding.

Also available for tours are a number of the museum’s outstanding historic residences located nearby.

As you continue west along the Essex Street walking mall you will see many shops and restaurants and the Witch History Museum. Derby square will be on your left and is Salem’s old Town Hall, opened in 1816.

Shops and sites in this area include:

• Cornerstone Books, 45 Lafayette Street, Salem, Massachusetts, 978-744-1831
• New England Pirate Museum, 274 Derby Street, telephone of 978-741-2800
• Salem Witch Museum, 19 ½ Washington Square North, Salem, Massachusetts, 978-744-1692 where you will find a large selection of books, pamphlets, videos and CD ROMs on the subject of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, New England Graveyards, Tarot, Salem History
• Henry Derby Boutique, 192 Essex Street, telephone 978-745-1080
• The Trolley Depot, 191 Essex Street, 978-745-3003
• Witch Dungeon Museum, 16 Lynde Street, telephone 978-741-3570
• Henry Derby Flowers: They create custom window boxes, doorways and cottage gardens

A few popular places to eat:

• Caffe Graziani, 133 Washington Street, Salem, Massachusetts, telephone 978-741-4282: Homemade Italian specialties, serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, cappuccinos or espresso and desserts. The Chef speaks four languages. Take out available. Dinner is served Friday and Saturday evenings.
• Capt.’s Waterfront Grill & Club, 94 Wharf Street, Pckering Wharf, Salem, Massachusetts, telephone 978-741-0555. Waterfront dining, charcoal grilled seafood and steaks.
• Grapevine Restaurant, 26 Congress Street, telephone 978-745-9335, rated for years by Zagat’s Restaurant Guide, as one of the top 40 restaurants in the Boston area.
• Lyceum Bar and Grill, 43 Church Street, Salem, Massachusetts, telephone 978-745-7665. This is the place where Alexander Graham Bell made the first long distance phone call and where today a global cuisine is created in a relaxed and stylish eatery.
• Tavern at the Hawthorne, On the Common, Salem, Massachusetts, telephone 978-744-4080 offers a fireside with light lunch fare or lobster dinners and entertainment in a pub-style atmosphere.

Coffee Shops:

• Cornerstone Books, 45 Lafayette Street, serves coffee and baked goods in the café, which is part of a full service bookstore. They have a working fireplace and host a (free) wi-fi hotspot.

What could possibly be the most exciting experience in Salem, Massachusetts? Most likely is the “Witch Dungeon Museum.” In this museum you will feel as though you were there in Salem Village in 1692. The visit guarantees you:

• A unique educational experience with a chill
• The acclaimed performance of a Witch trial adapted from the 1692 historical transcripts
• Professional actresses in repertory reenact the fascinating scene

In the year of 1692 something very strange and unusual took place. Here are some of the happenings of that year and of which you will see reenacted at the Witch Dungeon Museum:

• Revered Parris’ daughter Betty and Niece Abigail began acting very strange
• The minister asked Dr. Griggs to examine the girls. Dr. Griggs found nothing wrong with them.
• Abigail and Betty continued their strange behavior and then other children began to copy them.
• Some children barked like a dog
• Other children would throw themselves on the floor and have fits
• One child tried to crawl into the fireplace
• Another child said the devil was after her
• The adults began to believe the Devil had come to their little village
• The children began to accuse some of the people in the village to be witches that had cast spells upon them.
• The villagers met at the meeting house to find and punish the people who were casting spells on the children.
• The children accused their neighbors of being witches.
• Fear spread throughout the village
• They truly believed the Devil had come to Salem, Massachusetts
• The witch trials lasted for thirteen months
• One hundred and fifty-six people were accused.
• Nineteen of these were hanged.
• One man was pressed to death.
• Two dogs were hanged because the children said the dogs gave them the “evil eye.”

The only structure still standing in Salem, Massachusetts with direct ties to the 1692 Salem Witch Trials is the Corwin House/Witch House on 310 Essex Street.

The Witch House tours blend information about 17th-century lifestyles, furnishings and architecture with the fascinating insights into the events of 1692.

As a visitor, you will gain a deeper comprehension of the lives of those involved in the Witchcraft Trials. This house is open daily, May 1 – early November 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You will need to call for extended October hours. Tours are available by appointment during the off-season. There is an admission fee, and reduced rates for groups, senior citizens, children and student groups. There is ideal parking fro motor coach tours and buses.

Source: Salem, Massachusetts City Guide

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Written by: Connie Limon. For more vacation ideas in Massachusetts visit http://smalldogs2.com/VisitingMassachusetts For a variety of FREE reprint articles and special topic articles rarely found elsewhere visit Camelot Articles at http://www.camelotarticles.com

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