Salem Massachusetts sits atop my short list of not-to-be-missed weekend destinations. Since 1626, this fishing colony turned conurbation has stood witness to colonization, the birth of the national guard, some of the countries earliest civic works projects, and of course the hysteria of 1692.

Salem is perhaps one of the greatest “small big cities” in New England and together with it’s history, architecture, restaurants, and phenomenal public programs, it has had me under an enchantment since I first visited in 2003. More than twenty years later, there is little left of Salem that I haven’t explored. Below are some of my favorite spots to enjoy the Witch City while avoiding the tourist traps and seasonal rush.

Winter Island Park is my go-to for places to stay in Salem. The Witch City boasts a number of great hotels such as the Waterfront Hotel with it’s seasonal biergarten and the Hawthorne Hotel with their annual Halloween Ball. But for those who are able, camping on the neck between Salem Harbor and the ocean offers the most unique experience, and during the busy Halloween season, Winter Island is one of Salem’s better-kept secrets.

Winter Island has been in use since the early colonial times. Beginning in the 1620’s the grounds were used as a fish drying and ship building area while the coves formed by the neck of Winter Island were used as a winter safe haven for fishing vessels.

Beginning in the mid-17th century the neck was considered a strategic defensive point for Salem where Fort Pickering was established in 1643. Fort Pickering was utilized throughout the Revolutionary War and continued to be fortified through the Civil War. In use until World War II, a seaplane hangar and ramps were added for the US Navy to conduct anti-submarine patrols. the military’s use of the land was eventually transferred into a Coast Guard Air Station.

The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Portions of the Civil War era fort remain.

Transporterfest campers rally in two areas of the campground: “The Igloo” (which was originally designed to house depth charges) as well as “Fort Pickering” which is included in the footprint of the Civil War Era fort and has spaces overlooking Salem Harbor.

The House of Seven Gables (known also as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion) is a 1668 colonial era mansion named for its gables. The mansion was made famous by Nathanial Hawthorne’s novel.

The earliest section of the home was built in 1668 for Capt. John Turner. This section of the home now forms the middle of the home. Later additions include a kitchen, a large front extension with a parlor, and large bed chambers all of which featured higher ceilings, double casement windows, and ornate trimmings all capped with a three-gabled garret (attic).

The mansion remained in the Turner family for three generations but was lost by John Turner, III along with all of the family fortune. The house was acquired by the Ingersolls who again remodeled it removing the gables, replacing porches, and adding Georgian trim.

Hawthorne was occasionally entertained in the home by his cousin Susannah Ingersoll. At that time, the home had been reduced to only three gables but Hawthorne was more inspired by the way “seven gables” sounded than what the home had looked like at the time. The house was entered into eternal folklore when he wrote of it in his novel published in 1851.

After being purchased by Caroline Emmerton, the house underwent a restoration which reconstructed the missing gables. In some cases, historical authenticity was sacrificed in the interest of more closely resembling the novel. Admission charged from tours of the home supported the Seven Gables Settlement Association. Today the House of Seven Gables offers tours of the mansion, grounds, and the Nathanial Hawthorne Birthplace.

The Friendship of Salem is a 171-foot replica of the Friendship, a 1797 East Indiaman. “East Indiaman” was a general classification of sailing vessels which operated under a charter or license to any of the East India trading companies which served the major trading powers through the 17th to 19th centuries.

The replica was built in 2000 using modern materials and construction methods, while retaining the appearance of the original 18th century ship. The design is based on a model in the collections of the Peabody Essex Museum. The model was built by Thomas Russel, the Friendship’s second mate, and Mr. Odell, the Friendship’s carpenter as a gift for Captain William Story’s infant son.

The original Friendship was built in Salem by Enos Brigg’s shipyard for owners Aaron Waite and Jerathmiel Peirce. Friendship launched on May 28, 1797. She made fifteen voyages during her career and visited ports in Batavia, India, China, South America, the Caribbean, England, Germany, the Mediterranean, and Russia.

The Friendship of Salem usually operates as a floating museum. She is however, a fully functional, sea-going vessel which makes special sailings during various times of the year.

Adjacent to the Friendship is the National Park’s Service museum shop of Waite & Peirce. The shop is named for the owners of the original Friendship and offers maritime themed goods that harken back to Salem’s place in the history of global trade. Waite & Peirce is a National Parks Passport cancellation station.

The Custom House stands at the center of the Derby Wharf Maritime National Historic Site. Salem was a thriving seaport in the late 1700s through the early 1800s. During that time, dozens of wharfs marked the shoreline with ships bearing cargo, as well as warehouses and other workshops which serviced these vessels.

The U.S. Custom House was built in 1819 and is the last (and most current) of thirteen such buildings reaching as far back as 1649. Before the federal income tax was established in 1913, Customs Houses oversaw the collection of taxes on imported goods which accounted for 97% of the federal revenue. Taxes were calculated by the weight or volume of products, these taxes were then paid inside the Custom House. Even in the 1800’s a tax of $50,000 to $100,000 was not uncommon.

The Custom House symbolized the Federal Government’s presence in port, as such the building was designed to appear imposing and proud to be seen by ships entering port. Familiar architectural details include exterior columns, intricately carved woodwork, and heavy parapets. In 1826, a wooden eagle was placed on the roof. It was carved by Salem craftsman Joseph True for a cost of $50.00. In 2004, the original wooden eagle was replaced with a fiberglass replica. After undergoing years of conservation work, the original wooden eagle is now on display within the Custom House. Inside is a collection of original furnishings as well as a collection of scales and weights used to measure cargo.

Salem Common is regarded as the birthplace of the National Guard, where in 1637 a regiment of militia first drilled for the common defense of the community thus laying the foundation for what became the Army National Guard.

Salem Common was established in 1667 as a public space. During this period, it was partially a swamp and was entirely unimproved.

In 1802 a campaign was put forth to beautify the park, 159 people paid for this large public works project which began with leveling and grading the hills within the common. Five ponds and the river to the cove were filled and a wooden fence was erected around the common.

Standing in the heart of Salem, the bronze effigy of Roger Conant overlooks The Common. His face obscured by the wide brim of a Puritan capotain hat and his billowing cloak suggest to virgin onlookers that Conant may be a witch. However Conant is credited with establishing the settlement of Salem more than 60 years before the colony was overcome with darkness.

A representative of the Massachusetts Bay Company, Conant arrived at Plymouth Colony in 1624 where he is known to have been a calm and peaceful leader who was uncomfortable with the strict and intolerant beliefs of the Puritan settlers. He led colonists into Nantasket and later Gloucester where he was invited to serve as Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony before shifting the colony into preset day Salem which provided better fishing, farming, and trade opportunities. Conant remained as Governor for two years more before being replaced.

After his tenure as Governor ended, Conant continued to serve a public role in the settlement and amassed significant land holdings. He died in 1679. His burial place is not known, though it is believed he would have been laid to rest in Salem’s only existing burial place at present day Charter Street.

The Howard Street Cemetery is relatively modern as far as burial grounds in Salem are concerned. Established in 1801 the burial grounds were expanded in 1841 when the city annexed a nearby parcel of land and simultaneously prohibited new tombs and grave use in the older nearby cemeteries.

Once an open field nearby the Sherriff’s quarters and jail, the site is believed that where Salem Witch Trials victim Giles Corey was pressed to death by Sheriff George Corwin in 1692 and later buried in an unmarked grave.

The earliest legible headstone in the cemetery belongs to that of Benjamin Ropes who too was crushed to death in 1801. In fact,  a number of people interred within the cemetery themselves died by crushing injury including 10 prisoners who were killed when a floor collapsed in the nearby Salem jail. However, the cemetery was established at the dawn of the industrial revolution and accidents were commonplace.

Local lore suggests that the ghostly figure of an old man was seen to be in the cemetery just before the Great Salem Fire of 1914 which curiously broke out near Boston and Proctor streets, only feet from where many other victims of the 1962 hysteria were hanged.

The cemetery is also the final resting place of many local merchants, ship’s captains, and Revolutionary War soldiers.

The Peabody Essex Museum is a successor to some of Salem’s most recognized antiquarian, science, and marine exploration societies: the Peabody Museum of Salem, the Essex Institute, and by legacy the East India Marine Society.

The East India Marine Society was established in 1799. Members of the Society were required to collect “natural and artificial curiosities” from beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. They were required to personally circumnavigate the globe and share their navigational discoveries with other Society members, thereby increasing their chances of returning from voyages safely.

The Essex Institute (1848-1992) was a literary, historical, and scientific society which maintained a museum, library, and historic houses which contributed to it’s educational programs and numerous scholarly publications.

The Peabody Museum  (1915-1992) formerly the Peabody Academy of Science was an antiquarian society and museum which displayed animals, fossils, minerals, and plants, as well as ethnological artifacts such as weapons, costumes, tools, statuary, and musical instruments.

The East India Marine Society built East India Marine Hall, a national historic landmark now embedded within the museum’s faculties to house their collection. This hall is now included within the larger collections of the Peabody Essex Museum.

The Salem Witch Trials Memorial is a somber memorial offered to the victims of the hysteria in 1692. Four-foot-high granite walls surround the memorial with granite benches representing each victim, including their name, means of execution and execution date.

The Charter Street Cemetery is the oldest European burial ground in Salem and among the oldest in the country, though indigenous burial sites that pre-date colonization are found in Salem.

The first recorded references to the Old Burying Point and the earliest legible monuments suggest that the burial grounds were first used in 1637 with the interment of Doraty Cromwell. The cemetery is the final resting place of several notable Salem residents including Richard More, a passenger on the Mayflower; Col. John Hathorne, a magistrate and one of the leading judges in the Salem witch trials who was appointed to the Court of Oyer and Terminer; Bartholomew Gedney who was present at several of the examinations conducted during the hysteria in 1692 and later served on the Court of Oyer and Terminer.

The Jonathan Corwin House, known locally as “The Witch House” was the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin and is the only structure still standing within Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials in 1692.

Corwin was called upon to investigate the claims of diabolical activity when a surge of witchcraft accusations arose in Salem Village (now Danvers) and neighboring communities. Corwin served on the Court of Oyer and Terminer which ultimately sent 19 people to the gallows.

Corwin bought the house in 1675 and lived there for over 40 years with the house remaining in the Corwin family until the mid-19th century. It is unclear when exactly the house was built but Corwin family lore maintains that it was built in 1642.

The structure was modified several times over the centuries but has since been restored to look as it would have in the 17th century.

The Ropes Mansion is a Georgian colonial mansion built c. 1720. The home was bought by Judge Nathanial Ropes in 1768 and continued to be inhabited by the Ropes family until 1907 when the it was given for public benefit. The Ropes Memorial is now operated by the Peabody Essex Museum.

Although altered through the years, the mansion has been restored to look much like it’s original form with a symmetrical façade, three small pedimented gables, a roof balustrade, and ornamental cornice work.

The interior has been extensively renovated. In the mid-1830’s five rooms and the central hall were remodeled. In 1894 the house was moved back from the street and further modified internally. A large colonial revival garden was added behind the house in 1912.

The house was featured as Allision’s home in the 1993 Disney film “Hocus Pocus”

The Ropes Mansion is a Georgian colonial mansion built c. 1720. The home was bought by Judge Nathanial Ropes in 1768 and continued to be inhabited by the Ropes family until 1907 when the it was given for public benefit. The Ropes Memorial is now operated by the Peabody Essex Museum.

Although altered through the years, the mansion has been restored to look much like it’s original form with a symmetrical façade, three small pedimented gables, a roof balustrade, and ornamental cornice work.

The interior has been extensively renovated. In the mid-1830’s five rooms and the central hall were remodeled. In 1894 the house was moved back from the street and further modified internally. A large colonial revival garden was added behind the house in 1912.

The house was featured as Allision’s home in the 1993 Disney film “Hocus Pocus”

In 1681 the inhabitants of Salem village built a home for their minister at this site. Believed to be over forty-feet wide and twenty-feet deep, the two story parsonage faced south to capture the winter sun. It included four main rooms, and four hearths, plus a garret space and a stone-walled cellar under the parlor. The parsonage was larger than the stone cellar foundation suggests as much of the home rested on wooden timbers placed directly on the ground.

It was in this house in 1692 that Tituba, Rev. Parris’ slave, told the girls of the household stories of witchcraft which nurtured the village hysteria. This house was the scene of many incidents during the hysteria, and is one of the most important sites in colonial American history.

The original 1681 parsonage was torn down in 1784 and replaced with a new Georgian styled house for the ministry at nearby 73 Centre Street. The cellar of the 1681 parsonage was filled in and over time the exact location of the site was lost to history.

In the early 1970s the Richard Trask, the curator of the Danvers Historical Society and the local Historic Commission took interest in locating the parsonage site. After comparing 17^th century Salem Village records with 18^th century maps, the team concluded that the probable site lay in the yard of Alfred Hutchinson, a local teacher. Hutchinson permitted for the excavation of his yard. As the stone foundation was uncovered more than 30,000 artifacts were unearthed including coins, flatware and bottle fragments; many bearing the initials of Samuel and Elizabeth Parris.

Of all the relics, records, and memoirs left in the wake of the hysteria in 1692 Salem, the exact site of the so called “hanging hill” was not memorialized. In truth, the hanging of these accused was a shameful event and most residents wanted to leave it too, in the past.

Historical maps of Salem note a “Gallows Hill” but for years historians argued that the area was not likely to be the site of the actual hangings. For the carts carrying the accused, the steep access to “Gallows Hill” would have been too difficult to climb. Executions were also well attended public events which would have necessitated ample gathering space.

Benjamin Nurse wrote that he traveled by boat up a narrow creek to collect the body of his mother, Rebecca Nurse who was hanged in July of 1692. Then, the North River connected to Beckford’s Pond which was situated at the base of current day Proctors Ledge. Gallows Hill is far from the North River and Bickford’s Pond and would not have been discreetly accessible.

The Proctors Ledge Memorial is located in a residential neighborhood. There is no parking. Nearby parking can be had at the Gallows Hill Park which is only a short walk from the memorial site.