08/10/2026
Our Dash through American history continued with a fascinating—and incredibly somber—stop in Salem, Massachusetts, where we stepped back into the story of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
This was nearly 85 years before the American Revolution, and what happened here became one of the darkest chapters of early American history.
The hysteria began in January 1692 when 9-year-old Elizabeth “Betty” Parris and her 11-year-old cousin Abigail Williams began suffering from strange fits and behaviors that could not be medically explained at the time. In deeply religious Puritan New England, their symptoms were eventually blamed on witchcraft. Soon other young people and adults joined in the accusations, and fear spread rapidly throughout the community.
Imagine living in a time when an accusation, a strange behavior, or someone claiming that your “specter” had harmed them could help send you to jail—or even to your death. There were no protections or standards of evidence like we expect from our justice system today. In fact, the eventual rejection of so-called spectral evidence became an important lesson in the dangers of allowing fear and unsupported accusations to substitute for reliable evidence.
By the time the hysteria ended, 19 innocent people had been hanged, Giles Corey had been pressed to death for refusing to enter a plea, and at least five others died in jail.
One of the things that struck me most was how much of this history nearly disappeared. For generations, Salem did not embrace this tragedy as something to promote. It carried shame and stigma, and many of the original locations connected with the trials disappeared as the city grew and modern buildings replaced them.
Today, however, Salem has made sure the victims are remembered.
We visited the Salem Witch Trials Memorial, located beside the historic Old Burying Point Cemetery. Twenty simple granite benches project from the stone walls, each bearing the name of one of the 20 people executed in 1692. The memorial is intentionally simple and incredibly somber. Even the entrance carries the words of the accused proclaiming their innocence—with their sentences literally cut short by the stone walls, symbolizing how their voices were silenced.
We were also able to visit the area of Proctor’s Ledge, now recognized as the site where the 19 hangings took place. It is almost difficult to comprehend because today it sits within a residential neighborhood. History happened here, and then everyday life simply grew up around it.
Several of our Dashers visited the Witch Dungeon Museum, which gives you an idea of the horrific conditions endured by those imprisoned during the trials. The dungeon itself is recreated, but the museum does display a ceiling beam from the original 1692 Salem jail. Looking at the incredibly cramped, dark cells gives you a completely different perspective on what these men and women endured.
And NOPE—I wasn’t touching that beam! 😂 When they asked if anyone wanted to touch it, two people who weren’t with our group did. Object or not, I can only imagine the history and energy associated with something that stood over people during one of the darkest periods of their lives. I was perfectly happy looking at that piece of history from a distance.
The museum also presents a live reenactment using historical testimony from the trials, helping visitors understand how quickly accusations could become accepted as “proof.” Bridget Bishop would ultimately become the first person executed during the Salem Witch Trials, hanged on June 10, 1692.
Of course, Salem today is a completely different place. The city has embraced its “Witch City” identity, and everywhere you look there are museums, witch-themed shops, ghost tours, paranormal attractions and reminders of 1692. October has become an enormous month-long celebration known as Haunted Happenings, drawing tremendous crowds from around the world. On Halloween Day alone in 2025, nearly 97,000 visitors came into downtown Salem.
I also had the chance to have lunch at The Tavern inside the historic Hawthorne Hotel. The hotel opened in 1925 and was named for Salem-born author Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. Hawthorne himself had an interesting connection to the witch-trial story—his ancestor Judge John Hathorne was one of the magistrates involved in the examinations of the accused.
The Hawthorne Hotel has certainly leaned into Salem’s spooky reputation over the years. Bewitched filmed part of its famous Salem episodes there in 1970, and in 1990 the hotel even hosted a seance attempting to contact Harry Houdini on the anniversary of his death.
Whether you believe in the paranormal or not, Salem definitely has an atmosphere all its own.
What I found most fascinating is how time changes the way we look at history. What was once something families and an entire community wanted to distance themselves from has become the very history that brings people from around the world to Salem today.
But beneath all the witch hats, broomsticks, ghost tours and Halloween fun is a very real story about fear, accusation, evidence, justice and 20 innocent people whose lives were taken.
More than 330 years later, Salem still reminds us how dangerous it can be when fear becomes stronger than facts.
Another incredible history lesson for our Dashers on our American 250 Patriotic Journey! 🇺🇸
