House of seven gables, witch house & the ouija board museum

door with witch city mall written on in white text

Unlike our first day in Salem, we made sure to book in advance for the things that we wanted to see, so we knew we had a full itinerary! The train into Salem only took about half an hour, so we were in the town by mid-morning ready for a cup of tea and a snack before our first booking.

slice of cake in a packet from rosedelas in salem

First up was the House of Seven Gables; a mansion from 1668 that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel of the same name (which I have not read, yet). The tour was an interesting history of the house, the families that lived there, and the author himself. This wouldn’t have been my first choice of things to visit in Salem, but it gave a good overview of what life was like during the 17th Century.

the gardens and house of seven gables in the sunshine

front image of the house of seven gables a black wooden house with pointed roof areas

Next was the tour of the Witch House. The home of Judge Jonathan Corwin, who preceded over the trials of the “witches” was filled with items from the trials and the history and testimonials of the people involved.

wooden sign for the salem witch houise with pumpkins surrounding the base of the sign

front of the salem witch house with black wooden panels and pumpkins at the door

By the time we had finished with the Witch House, it was getting on to lunch time so we wandered through some of the shops on our way to find food. Once again, everything was busy with queues out of the door, but we managed to find a bubble tea place that sold sandwiches.

shop window with the words the black veil shoppe for the grim hearted written in white

shop interior with a rams skull on display in the foreground

floating black statue of a witch on a broom

Next was the Charter Street Cemetery, and the memorials for the people executed as witches. Their bodies couldn’t be buried on consecrated ground and were left in unmarked graves in the woods. As such, they have no graves in the town and a memorial walkway was built for them instead.

rows of gravestones surrounded by trees with autumn leaves on the grass

memorial stone for one of the women said to be a witch and excuted during the salem witch trials

Our final stop of the day was the Ouija Museum. Located at the back of a shop, this is the only museum of Ouija Boards. The room was small, but packed full of glass cases and ouija boards on all of the walls. The owner knew everything about every board in the room, and we spent a good 45 minutes listening to him tell stories about the history of ouija boards, the paranormal things he and others had experienced with the boards, and where he had gotten them all.

This was the highlight of my trip to Salem!

wooden sign that says come and see the worlds only ouija board museum in white text

wall of ouija boards and more ouija boards inside glass cases

Then it was time for the train home, and just enough energy to stop for dinner in Boston's Italian North End!

two bowls of pasta and two glasses of wine on a table

Boston Day Six (Salem Day Two)

House of seven gables, witch house & the ouija board museum