Salem

Salem, famous in the late 17^th century for witchcraft hysteria, is well known now as the home of the Peabody Essex Museum, a superlative museum where you can easily spend several hours viewing the exhibits on the maritime history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The focus is on objects collected by the ship captains of Salem on their voyages delivering the colony’s goods to the capitals of Europe and Asia. The Witch Museum offers exhibits and a sound and light show with vignettes of the witch trials of 1692. Chestnut Street is lined with mansions built by ship captains that reflect the wealth of that era and the shipping trade. Salem is also famous as the home of the House of Seven Gables, where tours bring to life the scenes from Hawthorne’s famous novel of the same name. Pioneer Village (open from May through October) is a re-creation of buildings that existed in the early days of the settlement of Salem. There are houses with thatched roofs, dugouts, and a wigwam. Interpreters dressed in costume explain the daily life of Salem’s early settlers.