I was on a solo road trip of the northeast states and had just been to Acadia National Park in Main. I stopped in Salem Massachusetts because I have always wanted to get more information on the Salem Witch trials. As usual, I turned to the NPS.GOV website to see what National Park Service properties are in the area. It led me to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site.

The day was REALLY hot - about 100 degrees, and it was very humid too! There weren't many people out, and normally, there are tours of the site and of the replica ship on site, but on this day, those tours were cancelled due to the heat. This area was built up in the mid-1600s and was a hub of commerce. The Customs House that is on the site was built in 1819. It was in REALLY good shape for being that old! I visited the Salem Custom House, and the West India Goods Store, both with self-guided tours available. The Rangers were also there, available to answer questions. They just weren’t going to be traipsing around outside giving a full-blown tour in this heat!

The entire community has a ton of history, and they have a red line on the sidewalk, like Boston, that takes you past the historic sites. I followed the red line, which took me to the NPS Salem Regional Visitor Center. It was a nice building, with good air conditioning, so I wandered through and looked at all their displays. It talked a lot about the maritime history of the area.

I also visited the Salem Witch Museum, which is not part of the NPS, but still super interesting. They have a multimedia presentation about the Salem Witch trials, where 19 people were sentenced to death for being witches, and dozens more were accused and jailed. Of course, none of them were witches, and it all began because of the accusations of a group of young girls. There was an interesting display there, that likened the Salem Witch trials to the McCarthy era red scare. Definitely worth seeing!

#Massachusetts