Salem

Far more than the witch trials

Salem is known for one terrible year. In 1692, accusations of witchcraft spread through the village and town, and by autumn nineteen people had been hanged and Giles Corey pressed to death under heavy stones for refusing to enter a plea. For centuries nobody could say exactly where the hangings happened; researchers confirmed the site in 2016 as Proctor's Ledge, a rocky outcrop now ringed by houses. A century after the trials, Salem was one of the richest ports in America, its ships trading pepper and silk from Sumatra and Canton. Captains who had sailed past the Cape of Good Hope founded the East India Marine Society in 1799 to show off what they brought back, and that collection grew into the Peabody Essex Museum. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born here, worked in the Custom House, and added a "w" to his surname, reportedly to set himself apart from his great-great-grandfather John Hathorne, a judge at the trials. Every October the city leans into its reputation and fills with visitors in costume.