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These historic buildings were not protected by any kind of historical society. The only structure still standing in Salem that has a direct connection to the witchcraft trials and is open to the public is the Witch House, on the corner of Essex and North Streets. This home, built circa 1675, was the residence of Judge Jonathan Corwin in 1692. Corwin served on the Court of Oyer and Terminer, which ultimately sent 19 people to the gallows. The house is an excellent example of 17th century New England architecture, although historians are unsure of the date when it was built. Corwin family lore maintains that it was built in 1642, but some scholars claim that it was built in the 1620s or 1630s and that Roger Williams lived in it in the before he founded Providence Plantations.
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Luckily, the Great Salem Fire, which swallowed up most of the city in 1914, didn’t touch the McIntire District. This meant the Witch House and a handful of other beautiful historic houses survived the disaster unscathed and remained fully intact. We tend to look up toward the skyline when we think about a city’s most beautiful buildings, but many of L.A.’s most stunning structures—and certainly its most whimsical ones—are hidden in plain sight on residential streets. Other sources state that locals starting calling it the Witch House because of its ties to the Salem Witch Trials and the name simply stuck.
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Posted: Wed, 04 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
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Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. If you're visiting Salem during Samhain, better known as Halloween or anytime in the month of October, get there early (even during the week). Judge Corwin received a strongly argued letter from Salisbury’s Major Robert Pike in September of 1692, in which Pike questioned the use of spectral evidence to convict people of witchcraft. Corwin usually let Hathorne take the lead in the examinations, but the two together were unrelenting in seeking confessions of witchcraft. Corwin was a principle figure in the pursuit and questioning of former Salem Village minister, Reverend George Burroughs.
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Open to the public, there are guided and self-guided tours available. The Witch House was the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin (1640–1718) and is one of the few structures you can visit in Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692. The self-guided tour aims to not only offer a new appreciation for L.A.’s historically significant residential architecture but to create a socially distanced sense of fun during the coronavirus pandemic. I just wish they would add some information about the history of the house, Jonathan Corwin himself and his role in the Salem Witch Trials to the displays to help give the house itself some context. It would be really easy and simple to do, it wouldn’t take more than 5-10 minutes. The house is filled with random, everyday household objects from the 17th century.
With crooked timbers, cockeyed chimneys and details that range from medieval to mirthful, Storybook Style houses seem less like actual homes than Hollywood sets. As a result, there are a lot of 19th and early 20th century photos and drawings that refer to the house as the Roger Williams house. Also on the walls are old spoons encased in glass as well as a fork that belonged to John Proctor.
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Just like the paint, black clothing was also very expensive at the time. The first stop was the kitchen, which had a brick fireplace that covered the entire left wall. When I was there, I could imagine women in their long dresses lifting up the large black pot hanging above the fire. Standing on the corner of North Street and Essex Street, the striking black Witch House is the only remaining structure from the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
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Those final unfortunates were hanged, and one man was crushed to death while being tortured. Corwin, who was born in Salem in 1640, was a merchant who purchased this house in 1675. Corwin served as a Deputy to the General Court and on the Safety Council. In addition to his close friendship with John Hathorne, they were also brothers-in law (Corwin’s sister Abigail married Hathorne’s brother Eleazor). In 1690, Governor Simon Bradstreet sent both Corwin and Hathorne on a fact-finding mission to Maine and New Hampshire, to assess the strength of the garrisons against Native American attack.
The Witch House of Salem
Some of the questioning took place in the Salem Village Meetinghouse (Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good were examined there from March 1-5), the Salem Town Meetinghouse, and local taverns. For years, many believed examinations also took place in this home on Essex Street, but there is no evidence to support that theory. In 1944, the house was slated for demolition when the street it was located on, North Street, needed to be widened. A group of local citizens formed an organization called Historic Salem Inc and funds were raised to help move the house back 35 feet from North Street to its present location on Essex Street. The house remained in the Corwin family until the 1850s when it was sold to a pharmacist named George Farrington who added a pharmacy to the side of the building.
I usually enjoy self-guided tours because I like roaming at my own pace, taking as many photos as I want and trying to imagine myself living alongside the place’s original residents. The citizens of Salem were utterly ashamed of the harsh witch trial stains it left on the city’s history. Fortunately, the Essex National Heritage Commission was created, and members banded together to save the house.
As a result, all of the signs and objects in these rooms are really hard to see. On the walls are signs explaining what type of objects a typical 17th century household would have. The Witch House is a beautiful building which gives a great insight into the life of a rich 17th-century family.
There is no mention of the house being used for the examinations in any of the primary sources on witch trials but it is possible that it may have happened. As of now, there are only a few signs around the house even stating that it belonged to Jonathan Corwin and these are easy to miss because it’s so dark and cluttered in the house. I seemed to have missed every sign explaining who the house belonged to because I only saw them later while looking at other tourist’s photos of the house online. This room, and the house in general, is very dark because of the small windows and the lack of modern lighting. There are a few small lights on the walls in each room, but they don’t produce much light. Plus, the curtains on the windows in most of the rooms are drawn, probably to prevent sunlight from damaging the artifacts, but it makes it even darker in the house.
Despite the lack of context and information about the house, I would definitely still recommend visitors check it out. There are a lot of them throughout the house and they all have long dense passages of text which you have to squint to read in the dim lighting. It feels like you enter the house and just start squinting and reading trying to make sense of everything. The windows in this foyer provide really nice views of downtown Salem. From the left window you can see views of bustling Essex Street and North Street and from the right you have a nice view of the First Church in Salem next door. Upstairs there are two large bedrooms and another foyer in between them.
It was really interesting but because it’s so dark in the house it was hard to see it and was even harder to get a photo of it. In the kitchen is a table with chairs and reproductions of some of the Salem Witch Trial documents on top of the table. Behind the table, the surface of the wall has been removed to expose the construction materials of the wall, which looks to be some type of brick and mortar.
The main house itself also later served as an antique store called the Witch House Antiques. The house is very well preserved and it is a treat to see it up close and personal. It is a beautiful old house and walking through it feels like taking a step back in time.
The room is set up very nicely and really gives you the feeling you are inside an old home instead of a museum. An old bed warmer hangs next to the fireplace and the room has a writing desk next to the bed, and a chest with a lantern and candles on top of it. The exhibit itself is just a couple of framed signs hanging on the wall which explain the origins of the holiday. There’s also a bowl filled with some kind of food on a table and a sign accompanying it explaining what type of meals people ate during the autumn in the 17th century.
The house was moved about 35 feet to its current location in the 1940s when the adjacent street was widened. It was restored to look as it would have in the 17th Century and the gambrel roof was altered. It is now a museum operated by the City of Salem and is open seasonally. Some sources also state that a few of the pretrial examinations of the Salem Witch Trials may have been conducted in the house when Corwin lived there.
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