Salem Witch Trials Walking Tours — Where History Turned Deadly
# Salem Witch Trials Walking Tours Mark the Ground Where Twenty People Died
In 1692, colonial authorities in Salem, Massachusetts executed twenty people — fourteen women and six men — by hanging or pressing, following accusations of witchcraft that spiralled across Essex and Middlesex counties into one of early America's most documented mass injustices. Today, two confirmed walking tours operated through Viator bring visitors face to face with the surviving landmarks of that deadly hysteria.
What Happened Here
The trials were not confined to the city visitors know today. Salem Village — now the separate town of Danvers — was the epicentre of the original accusations, but the legal machinery of condemnation and execution spread through the wider county region. Twenty accused were killed. Giles Corey, an elderly farmer who refused to enter a plea, was pressed to death beneath heavy stones over two days. Fourteen women and five other men were hanged. A 2016 archaeological investigation confirmed Proctor's Ledge, within modern Salem, as the likely execution site — a finding backed by physical evidence including human remains consistent with the historical record.
The hysteria left behind a small number of physical survivors: buildings, burial grounds, and memorials that still stand.
Tour One: Salem Uncovered — The 1692 Salem and Witchcraft Tour
This 90-minute walking tour carries a 4.5 out of 5 rating on Viator and is recommended by 92 percent of reviewers, earning the platform's Badge of Excellence. It starts at 1 Houdini Way, next to 15 Front St, and is led by professional storytellers rather than generic guides.
The tour concludes at the Salem Witch Trials Memorial at 24 Liberty St — a site dedicated in 1992, three hundred years after the executions, to honour all twenty victims. The memorial sits directly beside the
