Researchers confirm site of hangings for Salem witch trials

After almost 325 years of research and speculation, the site where 19 innocent people were hanged during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials has been verified.

The wooded part of Salem where 19 women were hanged after being accused of being witches is now a plot of land overlooking a Walgreens.

The Gallows Hill Project team bases its findings on the early 20th century research of historian Sidney Perley, an eye-witness reference to an execution from the trial papers, maps from different periods, and newer technology not available previously. Our analysis draws upon multiple lines of research to confirm the location of the executions”, said Mr Baker, author of A Storm of Witchcraft: “The Salem Trials and the American Experience.

Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll says the city plans to mark the spot with a small memorial.

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A six-year quest to track down the exact spot of the state’s greatest shame – which has remained unclear for centuries – led local historians to a location called Proctor’s Ledge, at the base of a hill where a shop now sits. Arthur Miller described it as the “coming madness” in the overture of his 1953 play, The Crucible, which dramatised the trials and hangings. The site has been identified as Proctor’s Ledge, an area located between Proctor and Pope streets in Salem, Mass.

Baker said the team did not uncover any archeological evidence of the hangings.

Marilynne Roach looked at several historical testimonies from the Salem witch trial court records, and tracked down a few key eyewitness accounts.

The city of Salem, Massachusetts intends to memorialize the site by erecting a plaque. “I am sure [the site] will attract people, but it is really not an appropriate site for a large memorial and lots of visitors”.

They focused their inquiry initially on Gallows Hill, where many believed the accused witches met their death at the peak. “Yeah, it’ll bring more people to the area”, says the store manager.