Salem, MA

Amazingly after almost 3yrs of living in Boston... I finally made the trip to Salem.  Not sure why it took me so long, as it's a relatively easy trip on the commuter rail.

 



The town of Salem has a population of  approx. 42,000 people.  With the main tourist attractions being walking distance to the commuter rail.  Very convenient.

 

Checking out the sights around town.  Definitely a lot of opportunity for one to get their palm read or fortunes told.

 

 

 Look there's a red line like Boston

 Enjoyed the brick

 

I really enjoyed the colors here with the purple house and the pink of the cherry blossom tree.  My camera didn't do it justice.

 

The window of one the local bookshops.  The inside of the store was rows and rows of books piled this way.  I have no idea how one is expected to find what they are looking for. 



 

 

While in town I visited a couple of museums.  The first one dedicated to the Salem Witch Trials.

 

Here are some facts you may or may not know about the "Witch Trials"

• Although known as "The Salem Witch Trials" Salem at the time was Salem town and Salem village an area much larger than what we today know as Salem  and also included the surrounding towns.
• The trials went from March 1692-May 1693
• The trials started when three preteen girls began acting in "strange" ways.  When the town physician was unable to diagnose them he proclaimed them to have been inflicted by the devil
• These girls then accused others of being witches.  Approx 200 people were accused with 19 being executed and 5 dying in prison
• Unlike popular belief the "witches" were hung and not burned at the stake.  Burning was done in England. 
• The first person to be executed was Bridget Sarah Bishop
• They even hung a couple of dogs
• Giles Corey was crushed to death instead of hung.  They later hung his wife
• The trials came to an end when the girls started to accuse some prominent figures of also being witches

A memorial.  In the early 1990's they started a tradition of honoring a humanitarian, in memory of those who died at the witch trials, to remind of us the harm that can be done by being judgmental of one another. 

Local Cemetery- those accused and hung were not allowed to be buried in the consecrated ground at the church. 

Statue of Elizabeth Montgomery as "Samantha" in Bewitched. 

 

Salem has more to it than its witch history.

 Had a fun time checking out the boats and the water. 

 

 Ahoy!

 

I also walked over to the "House of the Seven Gables".  Made famous by the book written in 1851 by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

a gable is the area of the roof that comes to a point.  The house in the book belonged a cousin of Hawthorne-Susanna Ingersoll who was an independent woman of her day. Refusing to get married so that her inheritance would not be passed off to her husband.

 When the house was reconstructed in the early 1900's it was remodeled to include both historically accurate parts and parts that came from the book.  No pictures were allowed in the house so unfortunately don't have any.

 Nice garden at "Seven Gables".  Interesting tour- I would recommend it to anyone visiting Salem.

I had a great time visiting Salem.  Feel I could have spent some more time.  Hope to make it back that way for some more exploring.