Salem
Salem Maritime National Historic Site · Salem, Massachusetts
A seaport north of Boston where, in 1692, a witchcraft panic ended with twenty people executed — nineteen hanged and one pressed to death under stones — and roughly the same number dead in gaol. That is why the world knows the name, and Salem has spent four centuries deciding what to do about it. What you get now is a genuinely serious historic town: two memorials, the only building left standing with a direct link to the trials, a great museum, a National Historic Site on the waterfront, and a large amount of tourist nonsense sitting alongside all of it.
Essex Street and the waterfront, Salem, Massachusetts, 01970, United States
A public town, walkable at any hour, with both memorials and the Salem Maritime grounds free and always open. Museums and historic houses keep daytime hours, generally around 10 AM - 5 PM, with reduced winter opening and unreliable Sunday and Monday hours off-season. October means Haunted Happenings all month — crowds, road closures and doubled hotel rates.