Witch Gaol Plaque #2.

Witch Gaol Plaque #2

The jail where many of the accused Salem witches were imprisoned was a miserable place. When convicted, the witches were hauled by cart to the edge of town and hanged. One, Giles Corey, was pressed to death on the jail grounds.

When the jail was torn down in 1813, some of its timbers were used to build a house on the site that in 1935 was turned into a replica jail with a historical plaque on its outside wall. It was torn down again in 1956-1957, this time for an office building, whose owners had no desire to associate themselves with witches. The plaque was moved two blocks south, to the Witch Dungeon Museum.

It wasn't until 2019, when witch tourism had become safely mainstream, that a new, less detailed, historical plaque was attached to the wall marking the original site.

Also see: Witch Gaol Plaque #1

Witch Gaol Plaque #2

Address:: 10 Federal St., Salem, MA
Directions:: The plaque is bolted to a brick wall to the left of the No. 10 entrance of an office building. On the north side of Federal St., just east of its intersection with St. Peter St.

Nearby Offbeat Places

Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery, Salem, MA - < 1 mi.

Cry Innocent Witch Trial, Salem, MA - < 1 mi.

Where the Witches Were Tried, Salem, MA - < 1 mi.

In the region:

World's Most Nearly Perfect Sphere, Quincy, MA - 20 mi.

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