The Hawthorne Hotel of Salem, Massachusetts

The Hawthorne Hotel opened on July 23, 1925 (84 years ago today) in the infamous city of Salem, Massachusetts. The hotel, then known as just The Hawthorne, was named after one of Salem's most accomplished residents, Nathaniel Hawthorne. The name "Hawthorne" actually has an ironic connotation for the city of Salem. While it pays tribute to the famed author, it is also an unintentional reference to the city's dark past. Nathaniel Hawthorne's great-great-grandfather, John Hathorne, was one of the judges during the Salem Witch Trials, earning him the moniker of "The Witch Hanging Judge," and the only one to refuse to repent for his actions during the time. Out of great shame of his family's legacy, Nathaniel later legally changed his name by adding the "w" to Hawthorne.

Perhaps it is only fitting that a hotel named after an author well known for employing the supernatural in his fiction and whose own past is tied to one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the United States is itself rumored to be haunted. In fact, there is a legend that the hotel is built on the former apple orchard of Bridget Bishop, the first person to be executed during the infamous trials. According to reports, guests and staff alike encounter the phantom smell of apples throughout the hotel to this very day. Of course, that is just one of the many ghostly legends tied to the hotel. In fact, if the stories are to be believed, the hotel is one of the most haunted locations not only in the state of Massachusetts, but in the entire country.

Read more on the ghosts and legends of the Hawthorne Hotel.

-Casey H.

The Salem Saga

On June 20, 1970, the cast and crew of the popular television situation comedy Bewitched moved their production to the city of Salem, Massachusetts. The decision to suddenly shoot a series of episodes on location was necessitated by a fire that damaged and destroyed some of the Bewitched sets in the studio that normally housed the production. The writers rapidly set to work, crafting a series of episodes that would have the characters visiting both Salem and Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The on-location shoots brought an expected temporary burst of business to Salem, which had been financially suffering as its shipping business decreased over the years. It also had an unexpected long term effect in that the episodes, once aired, caused tourism interest among some television viewers. The initial boost in tourism turned into escalating waves of tourists, until Salem was transformed into the city full of museums, tourist shops, psychics, and haunted attractions it is today.

The episodes which where shot on location in Massachusetts are collectively referred to as The Salem Saga. Among the episodes are two that deal with an enchanted bed warmer that chases Samantha following her visit to Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables.

Venture to the House of Seven Gables and see what follows you home.

-Tom G

He Hangs Upside Down and Backwards

If you were to visit the city of Salem, Massachusetts, one sight you'd be unlikely to see would be the Salem Marine Society's meeting place. It is hidden from the public, way up high on the roof of the Hawthorne Hotel. The society has long met at that location (though once at a lower elevation), even prior to the construction of the hotel itself. The meeting place of the Salem Marine Society is closed to the general public, though it would probably make a fine tourist attraction. The small building that sits atop the Hawthorne was actually constructed to look like the cabin of an old sailing ship known as the Taria Topan. Within the meeting room are relics of Salem's marine past, a time when the shipping industry was the life's blood of Salem's economy rather than tourism.

Among the old items to be found in the Salem Marine Society's headquarters are a pair of portraits with an unusual tale behind them. Both portraits are of the same man, Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury; only one of the portraits is hung upside down and facing the wall. It has hung in that manner for 148 years as of today. On May 30, 1861, the Salem Marine Society voted to so dishonor Maury (who had been named an honorary member due to his great naval achievements, particularly in the field of navigation) due to his efforts in the Confederate Navy. The same talents that had allowed Maury to benefit mariners in general had made him a deadly foe that had cost the Union dearly in the lives of their own Navy. It was decided that his portrait would hang in dishonor rather than be entirely removed from the meeting place.

In 2007, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities provided the Salem Mariner's Society with a new portrait of Maury and a sign detailing his accomplishments. The Society hung the new portrait and sign in a proper manner next to the disgraced portrait. While the Salem Mariner's Society now honors Maury with the newer portrait, there is no plan to change the state of the old portrait which continues to hang upside down and backwards due to the side he chose in the war.

This is one of the many stories behind the Hawthorne Hotel. Pay a visit to the Hawthorne to read other tales associated with the hotel.

-Tom G

The Irony of Salem

On March 1, 1692, the Salem Witch Hysteria really began to kick into gear as the Salem Witch Trials officially began. On this date Judge Hawthorne and Judge Corwin interrogated Sarah Osborne, Sarah Good and the slave Tituba. Those accused of witchcraft found themselves in a really bad spot. They weren't considered innocent the moment they were accused. A plea of innocence inevitably led to death by execution. A plea of guilt could set you free, but you had to name other witches in what became a deadly version of the game of tag. The people named as witches would then find themselves in the court's hot seat as well.

Once an accused victim chose a plea (whether guilty or innocent) the property of the accused was considered forfeit and seized by the local sheriff. This led to torture of any accused who would not enter a plea. Witch Trial victim Giles Corey died while being tortured in Salem's Howard Street Cemetery (see Howard Street Cemetery, Salem MA) because he refused to enter a plea. The silver lining to Corey's tale is that his sacrifice made it so his family didn't lose their land and belongings. Many others who declared their innocence were then found guilty by the court and sentenced to death by hanging, with the hangings taking place in what would later become Danvers, Massachusetts (see Danvers, Massachusetts).

The main irony of the Salem Witch Hysteria is that centuries later the history of the trials drew actual practicing witches to the city of Salem. Occult book stores abound in an area where Christians once killed each other in imagined fear that witchcraft was being practiced. The further irony is that the city has a thriving tourist trade thanks to the harm that the community once did to itself. There are modern memorials for the accused, while the gravestones of the judges who passed sentence on them crumble (see Old Burying Point Cemetery & Witch Trial Memorial). Also, thousands of revelers descend on the city each October to celebrate a holiday that would likely have been considered sacrilegious to those dwelling in Salem County back in 1692. Lastly, a witch silhouette is used as the symbol of Salem's law enforcement on the sides of their cars and on patches worn on the uniforms. They wear an example of the thing that the law enforcement of 1692 feared and hated. Salem is rife with irony.

Pay a visit to modern day Salem, Massachusetts.

-Tom G