Salem, MA

Today we took a day-trip 20 miles north of Boston to Salem, known worldwide as the home of the Salem witch trials. In 1692, more than 150 citizens, including a four-year-old girl, were accused of practicing witchcraft and imprisoned. Nineteen were hanged, one was tortured to death and at least five died in prison. The four-year-old, Dorothy Good, was eventually released after nearly eight months in shackles and the execution of her mother, Sarah. 

Salem today has a witchcraft identity, with witch museums, ghost tours and shops dedicated to the occult practically on every corner. The high school mascot is a witch and there is even a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha from the TV show Bewitched on display in downtown. A Witch Trial Memorial consists of a stone wall with 20 benches, adjacent to the oldest cemetery in Salem. Each bench is engraved with the name, date and method of execution of the men and women who were put to death in 1692. Ironically, two of the witch trial magistrates, John Hathorne and Bartholomew Gedney, are buried in the cemetery. Map Link: Salem, MA

Elizabeth Montgomery statue

Witch Trial Memorial bench and offerings

While the story of this human rights tragedy is the main event in town, we were more interested in Salem’s role as an important early-American seaport. Most of our visit was spent at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, a nine-acre park with 12 restored structures on the Salem waterfront plus a downtown visitor’s center in the restored Salem Armory (Fun fact: Salem is the birthplace of the National Guard, which first mustered here in 1636). 

Salem once had as many as 50 wharves in its harbor for unloading goods coming into the colonies in the 17-19th centuries. The longest was 2,045-foot Derby Wharf, which remains today, although only two of its 20 buildings still exist—Pedrick Store House and Derby Lighthouse. The Customs House at the head of Derby Wharf had massive scales, dipsticks, gauges and other devices for measuring cargo, and clerks there meticulously calculated duties owed to the government. In the days before sales and income taxes, import duties were the largest source of the country’s revenue, and Salem was an important spoke in the wheel. During the American Revolution, Salem was the colonies’ most active privateering port, capturing about 500 British vessels, and Salem privateers would capture another 300 British ships in the War of 1812. By the 1840s, larger cargo ships were too big for the shallower waters of Salem Sound, and maritime trade gradually shifted to deep-water ports like Boston and New York, leaving Salem to fade from glory.

Bonus Question: Can you place the following historic alcoholic volumes in the correct order, largest to smallest? Barrel, butt, firkin, flagon, gallon, gill, hogshead, nipperkin, pint, tun (answer at end of post).

Derby Wharf and Lighthouse. Souce: NPS

Customs House

Salem was the home of Nathaniel Bowditch—his bible of seamanship, The American Practical Navigator, has been in continuous publication since 1802 and is still carried aboard every commissioned U.S. naval vessel. Kathleen and I have a copy at home.

Salem is also the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter (another tale of New England intolerance) The House of the Seven Gables and The Life of Franklin Pierce, a biography of our 14th president, who was a Bowdoin College buddy and lifelong friend of Hawthorne’s. The House of the Seven Gables was based on an actual Salem residence, built in 1668 and now a museum, and Hawthorne’s birthplace was relocated to the grounds in 1958. Fun fact: Hawthorne was the great-grandson of Judge John Hathorne, one of the Salem witch trial prosecutors—it is believed that the author added the “w” to his surname to distinguish himself from his infamous ancestor. 

The House of the Seven Gables. Source: Salem.org

We made a quick stop at Ye Olde Pepper Companie, which claims to be America’s oldest candy store, then had lunch at Boston Burger before driving out to Winter Island and Fort Pickering, built in 1643 for the defense of Salem Harbor and used into the 20th century. All that remains of the fort today are sections of the original stone walls and three ammunition bunkers. There are walking trails around the perimeter and out to the rocks and tidal pools overlooking the picturesque harbor and nearby Waikiki Beach. After enjoying some quaity ocean time, we braved the heavy traffic back to Boston.

Winter Island Light

Fort Pickering ammunition bunker

Waikiki Beach

Jay & Danielle, Winter Island Light, Salem Harbor 

Photo Journal: Quirky stuff seen in Salem

Bonus Question Answer: Largest to smallest: Tun (216 gallons), butt (108 gal), hogshead (54 gal), barrel (36 gal), firkin (9 gal), gallon, flagon (1 quart), pint, gill (1/4 pint), nipperkin (1/32 pint).