Salem and some other spots. (Boston, New Bedford: appointed, house, live in)

[bdoon]

While I love NE in mid-summer (my Dad was from Boston and later, New Bedford) having many childhood memories of the Cape.... early Autumn is truly the Season of NE. NH and Maine just gurgitate color that the Shenandoah Valley or Great Smokies cannot compete with. However I have never been to Salem, Mass and wonder if it is worth the hype?

Is October, especially Halloween week, the time to be there? Or does all the partying detract from whatever paranormal ambiance might actually be there?

Where are the best places to visit in Salem? Does Gallows Hill still exist? Or is it a Dunkin Donuts or 7-11 now? As an amateur historian it is my opinion that there are few places in the USA ripe with so much past energy as NE, especially Mass and Maine. Yet in my travels I am disappointed as much as pleased. While Crown Point State Park in New York truly is historic and scenic, Fort Ticonderoga, just down the Lake(Champlain) has a parking lot over where many French-speakers , Natives Amers and English-speakers died, and a hokey restaurant attached to the Fort.

You who live in Salem ...whether an OG or a newcomer...what do you think of your most historic and at one time , hysteric town? Is it truly different than say, Teanack , NJ ?

thanks

Bdoon51@gmail.com

[brightdoglover]

I think the commercial emphasis at Halloween might detract from any genuine ambiance you might seek (if there is, in fact, any to be found).
Salem is a great place to visit any time. You might consider going the week before Halloween or something like that, and whatever additional things that are going to be available on the holiday will likely be happening already. Have a good trip!

[gf2020]

I would visit Salem during the last week of September or the first week of October. The leaves won't be at peak color but you miss the peak crowds of the city's Haunted Happenings: Haunted Happenings Salem Massachusetts - The Official Website for Halloween

[bdoon]

I like a party as much as anyone but I also am a student of colonial history and think your advice sounds good. As I would like to see a taste of the madness that goes on Halloween Week I am more interested in seeing some of the historical locations.

I am reading that Gallows Hill is actually in a neighboring community? Also , the site I was on had comments from natives of Salem complaining about visitors asking directions all the time. There were also folks on that site that said the trials were held in another town which had been part of Salem Village ?? at one time? Kinda confusing

I also have an interest in the paranormal...though until recently I did not believe in ghosts. An acquaintance of mine who is a physicist enthralled my wife and I at a Halloween party with his reasoning why ghosts might actually be real (though not as we think of them). Unfortunately I am in engineering (traffic) not physics and had a difficult time following him. However he shocked me with his train of thought to the point where I am more open-minded. My wife who is religious and understood less than me of what our friend told us just stated that there are no ghosts...they are actually demons (oh is that all?). Ha ha...she is loco.

[wivenhoe]

Gallows Hill still exists. It's a residential part of Salem that tries to avoid the tourists and witchcraft stuff. To be honest, there really isn't much to see at Gallows Hill.

The witchcraft trials in 1692 were held in Salem where the courts were located (and still are).

Many of the witchcraft accusations in 1692 occurred in the neighboring town of Danvers. Danvers was then a section of Salem called Salem Village. See Maps of Salem Village 1692 and The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692

Reverend Samuel Parris, Tituba, the Putnams, Rebecca Nurse, etc. lived in Salem Village (today Danvers). Rebecca Nurse's house in Danvers is open to the public on a seasonal basis.

There is a small portion of Salem residents who make their livelihood from the witchcraft, which can be tacky to say the least. There's a larger portion of Salem residents (including me) who want the city to move away from the (overemphasis) on witchcraft and to the city's maritime history.

Unless you like being with potentially 70,000+ people within a few square miles, I would suggest avoiding Salem on Halloween. Salem's downtown, historic districts were not designed to contain so many people within such a small space.

If you want paranormal, go see Laurie Cabot - the official witch of Salem. See Welcome to the Official Laurie Cabot webpage