If you're visiting Salem during Samhain, also known as Halloween, or at any time in October, be sure to arrive early, even on weekdays. Finding a parking space for any length of time is quite challenging.
The Salem witch trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 200 people were accused, 59 were tried, 31 were found guilty, and 20 were executed. Nineteen of these individuals were hanged, and one man was crushed to death during torture.
One of the judges, Jonathan Corwin, convicted the accused based on "spectral evidence," which relied on dreams or visions. As a local magistrate and civic leader, Corwin was called to investigate the surge of witchcraft accusations in Salem and neighboring communities. He replaced Judge Nathaniel Saltonstall, who resigned after Bridget Bishop's execution. Corwin served on the Court of Oyer and Terminer, which sentenced nineteen people to the gallows, all of whom maintained their innocence and refused to admit to witchcraft.
The Witch House, now known as such, was Corwin's home and is the only remaining structure in Salem, Massachusetts directly linked to the 1692 trials. Corwin purchased the house in 1675 at age 24 and lived there for over forty years. He is buried in the nearby Broad Street Cemetery. The house remained in the Corwin family until the mid-19th century.