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Faces of Salem, 176 Derby Street, Salem, MA (2026)

06/17/2026

The Hawkes House
115 Derby Street, Salem

Built beginning in 1780, the Hawkes House is one of Salem's finest examples of Federal architecture and one of the earliest surviving designs by Salem's celebrated architect Samuel McIntire. The three-story mansion was originally commissioned by Elias Hasket Derby, widely considered the wealthiest merchant in Salem and often called America's first millionaire.

Derby and his wife, Elizabeth, intended the house to replace their crowded family home next door, the Derby House. Construction began during the American Revolution, but the project was never completed. Whether due to wartime disruptions, changing priorities, or a desire for a more fashionable location in town, Derby abandoned the project and instead purchased an existing mansion on Washington Street. The unfinished structure sat vacant for nearly twenty years, becoming a local curiosity along Salem's waterfront.

In 1800, Salem pastor William Bentley famously described the unfinished building as "a monument of folly," criticizing its awkward appearance after two decades of neglect. Later that same year, the property was sold, and in 1801 shipbuilder Benjamin Hawkes and his business partner William B. Parker purchased the house and finally completed it.

Hawkes was one of Salem's leading shipbuilders, constructing vessels for many of the city's most successful merchants during the height of Salem's maritime era. After the house was completed, Parker removed his portion of the property, reducing the building to its present size. The mansion remained in the Hawkes family until financial difficulties forced its sale in 1833.

Like many historic homes in Salem, the house experienced a dramatic change in fortune during the nineteenth century. By the late 1800s, the once-elegant mansion had been converted into a tenement housing immigrants and mill workers, reflecting the city's changing economy and population.

A new chapter began in 1937 when the National Park Service acquired the property as part of the creation of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, the first National Historic Site established in the United States. Extensive restoration work followed, preserving one of Salem's most important Federal-era buildings. Today, the Hawkes House remains part of the historic site and serves as office space for the National Park Service.

Although it is not open to the public, the Hawkes House remains an important reminder of Salem's golden age of global trade, when wealthy merchants, master shipbuilders, and skilled craftsmen like Samuel McIntire helped transform a small New England port into one of the most prosperous cities in America.

06/15/2026

Monday Spotlight: Cotton Mather

A minister, author, scientist, historian, and public intellectual, Mather was one of the most prominent voices in late seventeenth and early eighteenth-century Massachusetts. Today, he is often remembered almost exclusively for his association with the Salem Witch Trials. Yet his life and legacy extend far beyond 1692.

Born in Boston in 1663, Cotton Mather came from one of the most influential Puritan families in New England. His father was Increase Mather, one of the colony's leading ministers, while his grandfathers were Richard Mather and John Cotton, both major figures in the founding generation of Massachusetts.

By the age of eleven, Mather had entered Harvard College, making him one of the youngest students ever admitted. He would go on to become a prolific writer, publishing hundreds of sermons, books, pamphlets, and essays on subjects ranging from theology and history to medicine and natural science.

During his lifetime, few men in New England wielded more intellectual influence.

Mather's reputation today is closely tied to the Salem Witch Trials.

Although he never served as a judge and did not directly participate in the court proceedings, he was deeply involved in the larger conversation surrounding witchcraft. Years before Salem, he had published accounts of alleged cases of demonic possession and witchcraft, helping reinforce the belief that supernatural forces actively operated in New England.

When the Salem crisis began in 1692, Mather advised the judges and corresponded with court officials. He cautioned against relying too heavily on spectral evidence—the claim that a person's spirit or apparition had harmed someone—but he never called for the trials to stop. After the ex*****ons, he published Wonders of the Invisible World, a defense of the court's actions.

For that reason, many later critics viewed him as one of the principal defenders of the trials.

Modern historians often present a more complicated picture. While Mather unquestionably believed witchcraft was real and supported the prosecution of suspected witches, he also urged caution in evaluating evidence and never served as a judge in Salem itself. His role remains one of the most debated aspects of the entire crisis.

Yet focusing solely on Salem risks overlooking the rest of his remarkable career.

Mather was among the earliest advocates of scientific inquiry in colonial America. During the devastating smallpox epidemic of 1721, he promoted inoculation after learning about the practice from Onesimus, an enslaved African man in his household. The idea was fiercely controversial, and Mather faced public outrage, threats, and ridicule for supporting it.

History would ultimately prove him correct.

He also conducted experiments with plants, corresponded with leading European scientists, and became one of the first Americans elected to the Royal Society of London, one of the world's most prestigious scientific organizations.

At the same time, Mather remained deeply committed to preserving Puritan society during a period when its influence was beginning to decline. Through his sermons, books, and public activism, he sought to defend the religious ideals that had shaped New England's founding generations.

When Cotton Mather died in 1728, he left behind nearly four hundred published works and one of the most complex legacies in American history.

To some, he remains a symbol of the fear and religious extremism associated with the Salem Witch Trials. To others, he represents an early American scholar whose contributions to science, medicine, education, and literature helped shape colonial society.

Both perspectives contain elements of truth.

Like many historical figures, Cotton Mather cannot be easily reduced to either hero or villain. His life serves as a reminder that the people who shaped history were often complicated, contradictory, and deeply human.

06/12/2026

There's an excellent event happening in Salem!

Salem Food Tours is celebrating Salem on its 400th anniversary with a multi-faceted 11-day event. Family-friendly and free events included! We’ll be shining a light on Salem’s history through lens of food, fishing, farming, trade, and community. Events to include an exhibit at Old Town Hall with complimentary trolley ride on first weekend, as well as a restaurant event, film event, open houses at historic home museums, urban farm visit, and a very special evening featuring Chef Scott Conant (who is a direct ancestor of Salem's founder, Roger Conant!) (ticketed event.)

Place: Old Town Hall - 32 Derby Sq
Time: Tomorrow, Jun 11 @ 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

https://www.salemfoodtours.com/food-at-400+/

Stay tuned for the rest of the weekend shenanigans!

06/11/2026

Every Thursday is the The Salem Farmers’ Market! This dates back to 1634. With its peak around 1930, an estimated 10,000 people visited the market on a single Saturday.

Time: 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Place: Derby Square - 32 Derby Square

06/10/2026

Special Spotlight: Bridget Bishop

Today marks the 334th anniversary of the ex*****on of Bridget Bishop, the first person put to death during the Salem Witch Trials.

Born in England around 1632, Bishop eventually settled in Salem Town, in 1666 where she became known as an independent and outspoken woman. By the time accusations of witchcraft swept through Essex County in 1692, she had already faced allegations of witchcraft 3 different times years earlier and had been given a "not guilty" verdict.

That reputation made her an easy target.

In April 1692, several of the afflicted girls accused Bridget of tormenting them through supernatural means. During her examination and subsequent trial, witnesses claimed her specter pinched, choked, and attacked them. Others testified about strange events, mysterious objects, and longstanding rumors that had circulated about her for years.

Much of the evidence presented against her would be considered worthless in any modern court but will be relied on for over the next 5 months.

The most damaging testimony came in the form of spectral evidence—the claim that her spirit could exit her body and harmed others. The court accepted these accusations as legitimate proof, despite the fact that they could never be verified.

Bridget consistently maintained her innocence.

"I am no witch," she declared...but it didn't matter.

On June 2, 1692, she became the first person convicted by the newly formed Court of Oyer and Terminer. Eight days later, she was taken to Gallows Hill and executed.

Local lore speaks about how she was not given the Marwood drop and Sherriff George Corwin watched her strangle to death for 30 minutes, so an example could be made.

Her death transformed the Salem Witch Trials from accusations into ex*****ons.

Until that moment, the crisis could still have been stopped. Instead, Bishop's conviction validated the court's methods and encouraged further prosecutions. Over the next few months, accusations spread across Massachusetts, engulfing entire communities and leading to one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in American history.

For generations, Bridget Bishop's reputation remained clouded by myth and misunderstanding.

Older accounts often portrayed her as a tavern owner who encouraged drinking, gambling, and disorderly behavior. Modern research has shown that many of those claims likely stemmed from confusion with another woman, Sarah Bishop. Historians now believe Bridget lived in Salem Town and may not have even known some of her accusers personally.

What remains beyond dispute is that she was convicted and executed based on evidence that could not be proven, in a court system driven by fear, religious certainty, and growing hysteria.

Her ex*****on serves as a reminder of the dangers of panic, prejudice, and abandoning the principles of justice in pursuit of certainty.

More than three centuries after her death, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts formally acknowledged that injustice.

On October 31, 2001, Bridget Bishop was legally exonerated, officially removing the stain of the witchcraft convictions from her name.

06/08/2026

Monday Spotlight: Tituba

Few figures from the Salem Witch Trials are as famous, misunderstood, and mythologized as Tituba.

An enslaved woman living in the household of Reverend Samuel Parris, Tituba was the first person accused of witchcraft during the crisis of 1692. For more than three centuries, her story has been retold in books, plays, films, and popular culture. Yet much of what people think they know about her comes from legend rather than historical evidence.

When Reverend Parris's daughter Betty and niece Abigail Williams began suffering mysterious fits in early 1692, Salem Village searched for an explanation. After local physicians could find no physical cause, many concluded that witchcraft must be responsible.

Soon, suspicion fell upon three marginalized women: Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne.

Popular tradition often claims that Tituba introduced the girls to Caribbean magic, voodoo practices, or occult stories learned in Barbados and were experimenting with a form of fortune telling, a practice that Puritans considered sinful and dangerous.

During her examinations, Tituba initially denied the accusations. According to historical accounts, Reverend Parris beat her and pressured her to confess. Eventually, she did.

Her confession became one of the most important moments of the entire witchcraft crisis.

Tituba described signing the Devil's book, encountering strange animals, seeing spectral creatures, and flying through the airknown as "familiars". While later writers often portrayed these stories as African or Caribbean folklore, the details she described were overwhelmingly drawn from European ideas about witchcraft and the Devil. Most importantly, she confirmed what the magistrates already feared: that there were other witches operating in Salem.

She named Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne as fellow witches, transforming what had been a local mystery into a growing conspiracy.

The court wanted confessions...so Tituba gave them one.

Ironically, that confession likely saved her life.

Throughout 1692, those who confessed were generally spared ex*****on, while many who maintained their innocence were convicted and hanged. Nineteen people would ultimately be executed, and Giles Corey would be pressed to death, but Tituba survived.

She remained imprisoned for more than a year. In May 1693, a grand jury declined to indict her. Yet freedom did not come easily. Like other prisoners, she was responsible for paying her jail fees. Because she had no money, Reverend Parris eventually sold her to a new owner to cover the cost of her imprisonment.

After that sale, Tituba disappears from the historical record.

Even her origins remain uncertain. Modern portrayals frequently describe her as Black, mixed-race, Caribbean, or African. Yet the surviving court documents consistently identify her only as an "Indian woman, servant." Historians continue to debate exactly where she came from and what her background may have been.

What remains clear is that Tituba was a vulnerable enslaved woman caught in an impossible situation. Faced with accusations, physical coercion, and a legal system already convinced of her guilt, she made choices that allowed her to survive while many others did not.

Today, Tituba stands as one of the most fascinating figures of 1692. Her story reminds us that the Salem Witch Trials weren't just about fear and superstition. It was also about power, social status, race, and survival. While myths about Tituba continue to circulate, the historical record reveals a far more complicated and human story than the legends that followed.

06/05/2026

Whether you're a local or from away, there are a *lot of things to do in Salem this weekend! Aside from Live music all weekend at Brodie's Seaport, here's what's happening!

06/03/2026

The John Ward House
9 Brown Street, Salem

Built beginning in 1684, the John Ward House is one of Salem's finest surviving examples of First Period architecture and one of the most important preserved colonial homes in America. Characterized by its steep gables, massive central chimney, diamond-paned windows, overhanging second story, and asymmetrical design, the house looks much as it would have when Salem was still a small colonial village.

The home was built by John Ward, a successful currier, or leatherworker, on what was then known as Prison Lane, directly across from the jail that would later hold many of those accused during the Salem Witch Trials. Like many First Period homes, the structure grew over time. What began as a modest dwelling was expanded in stages, eventually developing into the saltbox-style house we recognize today.

One of the most fascinating discoveries made during modern research revealed that the rear kitchen addition was constructed during the summer of 1692, right in the middle of the Salem Witch Trials. Surviving beams and construction evidence place workers on the property while accusations, examinations, and ex*****ons were unfolding just a short distance away.

The house remained in the Ward family until 1816 before passing through several owners. For a time it served as a bakery, and by the late 1800s had become a crowded tenement housing some of Salem's poorest residents. Like many historic buildings of the era, it faced the very real possibility of demolition.

Fortunately, preservationist George Francis Dow recognized its significance. In 1910, he arranged for the house to be moved three blocks to its current location. The structure was split into two sections and rolled through Salem on logs pulled by oxen. Two years later it opened to the public, becoming the first outdoor museum of architecture in the United States and one of the earliest colonial houses in the nation preserved specifically for historic interpretation.

Dow's restoration was groundbreaking, though not always entirely accurate. Seeking to recreate what he believed a seventeenth-century home looked like, he added some speculative features while overlooking clues left behind by the original builders. Fortunately, much of the historic fabric survived. Researchers have since uncovered rare examples of original plaster made from river clay and animal hair, providing valuable insight into colonial construction techniques.

Today, the John Ward House is owned and operated by the Peabody Essex Museum and is designated a National Historic Landmark. Aside from being a beautiful colonial home, it offers visitors a rare opportunity to step inside a structure that stood through King William's War, the Salem Witch Trials, the American Revolution, and the birth of historic preservation itself.

One final fun fact: in 1967, a full-scale replica of the John Ward House was constructed near mile marker 80 along the Massachusetts Turnpike in Charlton, MA and served as an experimental tourist information center, introducing countless travelers to Salem's architectural history before they ever reached the city. The reproduction reportedly cost $70,000 to construct, and later served as an RMV for the state. Unfortunately, the building is currently no longer operational.

Photo credit: Lost New England

06/01/2026

Monday Spotlight: Thomas Putnam

Few individuals are more closely associated with the Salem Witch Trials than Thomas Putnam.

Born in Salem Village in 1652, Putnam was a wealthy farmer, militia sergeant, parish clerk, and one of the most influential residents of the village. During the events of 1692, he became one of the driving forces behind the accusations that would ultimately lead to the ex*****on of 19 innocent people and the death of Giles Corey under torture.

The Putnam family had long-standing disputes with several prominent Salem families, particularly the Porter family and others who opposed Reverend Samuel Parris )who we discussed last week). Historians have noted that many of the people accused by Thomas Putnam, his wife Ann Putnam Sr., and their daughter Ann Putnam Jr. were connected to these political, religious, and family rivalries.

Thomas Putnam personally filed complaints or testified against 43 individuals. His daughter Ann Jr. accused 62 people, making her one of the most active accusers of the entire crisis. Following the departure of Betty Parris from the proceedings, Ann Putnam Jr. became one of the central voices behind the growing hysteria.

Recent handwriting analysis has revealed that Thomas Putnam personally wrote more than 100 witch trial documents, including many depositions attributed to the afflicted girls. The repeated language found throughout these testimonies has led some historians to argue that Putnam may have exercised a greater influence over the accusations than previously understood.

His involvement extended beyond filing complaints. In letters to the magistrates and judges overseeing the trials, Putnam praised their efforts and encouraged continued prosecution. He even wrote to Judge Samuel Sewall regarding Giles Corey, reminding the court of Corey's earlier involvement in the death of a 13 year old farmhand and suggesting divine justice was at work. Months later, Corey became the only person in American history to be pressed to death under peine forte et dure after refusing to enter a plea.

Whether Thomas Putnam was motivated by sincere belief, personal grievances, political factionalism, or some combination of all three remains debated. What is certain is that few people had a greater impact on the course of the Salem Witch Trials.

Thomas Putnam died in 1699 at the age of 47. Just weeks later, his wife Ann also died, leaving their children orphaned. In 1706, their daughter Ann Putnam Jr. became the only one of the afflicted accusers to publicly apologize for her role in the tragedy, asking forgiveness for the suffering her accusations had caused.

More than three centuries later, Thomas Putnam remains one of the most controversial figures in Salem's history, a man whose actions helped fuel one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in colonial America.

05/25/2026

Monday Spotlight: Samuel Parris.

Samuel Parris remains one of the most controversial figures connected to the Salem Witch Trials. A minister, businessman, former plantation owner, and deeply divisive leader, Parris served as the minister of Salem Village during the hysteria of 1692 and became one of the central figures tied to the tragedy.

Born in London in 1653, Parris moved to Boston as a child and attended Harvard College before leaving after his father’s death to manage the family sugar plantation in Barbados. It was there he enslaved Tituba, the woman whose forced confession would help ignite the Salem Witch Trials years later.

After financial struggles in Barbados, Parris returned to Massachusetts, married Elizabeth Eldridge, and eventually entered the ministry. In 1689, he became minister of Salem Village, now Danvers. From the beginning, his tenure was marked by conflict. Salem Village itself was already fractured by land disputes, political divisions, and bitter rivalries between families, but Parris often seemed to intensify those tensions rather than calm them.

Arguments erupted over his salary, ownership of the parsonage, and even firewood payments. Some villagers viewed him as overly rigid, self-interested, and authoritarian. By 1691, many members of the congregation were openly opposing him.

The crisis exploded in early 1692 when Parris’ daughter Betty and his niece Abigail Williams began exhibiting strange behavior and accused Tituba of witchcraft. According to historical accounts, Parris beat Tituba until she confessed. Once she did, accusations rapidly spread throughout Salem Village and beyond. Over the next several months, more than 200 people would be accused.

During the trials, Parris became an active supporter of the prosecutions. In sermons, he warned that devils lurked within the community itself, once declaring that just as one devil had existed among Christ’s disciples, there were devils hiding within Salem’s own churches. These sermons helped fuel fear and suspicion at a time when hysteria was already spiraling out of control.

One of the most striking details about Samuel Parris is this: of the 20 people executed during the Salem Witch Trials, 17 had either openly opposed Parris as minister or were connected to families who had criticized him and his leadership. Historians still debate how much influence this had on the accusations themselves, but the pattern has long raised questions about the overlap between personal grievances, church politics, and the unfolding panic.

As the trials ended and public opinion shifted, anger toward Parris grew rapidly. Survivors and family members of the accused blamed him for his role in encouraging the hysteria. In 1693, formal complaints were brought against him by his own parish. Though he later issued an apology called Meditations for Peace, many in Salem no longer trusted him.

The conflict over his leadership continued for years. Parris became embroiled in legal battles over church property and unpaid salary, eventually making his position impossible to maintain. By 1696, the same year his wife Elizabeth died, Samuel Parris resigned and left Salem Village for good.

He later preached in Stow, Concord, and Dunstable before dying in Sudbury in 1720.

Faces of Salem

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