Self-Guided Walking Tour of Salem: The Real 1692 Witch Trial Sites Explore how the prosperous seaport of Salem's own courts, taverns, jails and neighbors came to hang twenty people in 1692, and why it took so long for the town to admit they were wrong. Who this is for Visitors who want to go well beyond the costume-shop version of Salem with a deeply researched, in-depth look at the actual ground of 1692, with the names, grudges, families, and finances behind the trials. About the Salem Witch Trials Walking Tour Salem 1692: Walking the Real Witch Trial Sites is a self-guided audio walking tour of Salem, Massachusetts, covering twenty-three stops, from the court house site on Washington Street to the Salem Witch Trials Memorial. You'll Learn About… On this tour you'll learn how Salem's witch trials were run as ordinary town business, in courtrooms, taverns, jails and judges' homes all within a few streets of each other: Mary Gedney charged the Province for feeding the jurors, prisoners paid rent on their own shackles, and accusations grew out of everyday quarrels over inheritances and uncut grass. Walking these sites shows that the hysteria of 1692 lived inside neighbors' grudges and local institutions, and that Salem has spent the three centuries since, from the 1711 bill to the 1957 apology and the twenty memorial benches, trying to set the record straight. You'll find out how a court could accept testimony that an accuser had seen a defendant's ghost harm her, and weigh it as proof even when the defendant had done nothing at all. You'll learn why the mansion of Judge John Hathorne is gone, and why the novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, born into that family in 1804, added a letter to his surname. You'll hear about Elizabeth 'Betty' Parris, the first afflicted girl, who was taken to Stephen Sewall's home in March 1692. Sewall was a local official involved in the trials. You'll also learn about Philip English, the shipping merchant and accused witch, who escaped the constables and later returned in 1733 to sell land for St. Peter's Church. You'll learn about the Salem Witch Museum's building, which served as a church until 1956 and then housed the Salem Antique Auto Museum and Americana Shops until the cars moved out in 1972. The Route: 23 Stops in Salem Site of the 1692 Court House: judges who accepted ghosts as witnesses. Site of Rev. Nicholas Noyes: the house where the man stood to whom Sarah Good said, "God will give you blood to drink." Judge Hathorne's Home Site: the chief interrogator's mansion, now marked by a statue of a television witch. Stephen Sewall's Home Site: where nine-year-old Betty Parris was sent in March 1692, before the first hanging. The Witch House (Corwin): a steep-gabled house from around 1675, one of the only structures still standing in Salem with a direct link to the trials. Broad Street Cemetery: the graves of Judge Jonathan Corwin and his nephew, the High Sheriff who oversaw the pressing of Giles Corey. Gedney House: the widow who billed the Province for feeding the jurors. Sheriff Corwin's Home Site: a sheriff who died still owing the merchant he had ruined. 1st Church 1692 Meetinghouse: a floorboard that was entered as evidence at Bridget Bishop's trial. Site of the Ship Tavern: where the afflicted girls admitted the accusations were "for sport." Bridget Bishop's Home Site: an accusation that arrived three months after the house became hers. Site of the Salem Jail: prisoners who paid rent on their own shackles. St. Peter's Church: an Anglican church planted on Puritan ground for five shillings. Salem Witch Museum: a former church that sold antique cars before it told the story of 1692. Site of Ann Pudeator's Home: a midwife hanged in 1692 and cleared in 1957. Hawthorne Hotel: named for an author who added a letter to his surname. Site of Thomas Beadle Tavern: prisoners held in chains upstairs, above the drinking room. Philip English's Great House: the richest merchant in Salem, hiding behind a pile of soiled linen. Site of Blue Anchor Tavern: a widow who brewed her own beer and bought her house back. Site of Alice Parker's Home: an accusation that started with uncut grass. House of the Seven Gables: a mansion that had fewer gables than its title promises. Old Burying Point Cemetery: two judges buried in Salem's oldest graveyard, while the people they condemned went into shallow pits. Salem Witch Trials Memorial: twenty stone benches, each with one name and one execution date. Practical Details This is a self-guided walking tour of Salem you take at your own pace, with twenty-three stops running from the Court House site on Washington Street to the Witch Trials Memorial. The stops have no required order, and the background audio can be played anywhere. Take the Salem 1692 Tour Download the app and take Salem 1692: Walking the Real Witch Trial Sites.
