The Witch House

The Witch House is a timber dwelling from the 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts, now open to the public as a heritage museum. The building stands two floors tall with dark wooden walls, steep roofs and upper stories that project outward over the street level, following the style common in early colonial settlements.

A merchant named Jonathan Corwin bought the property in 1675 and used it from 1692 onward to question people accused of witchcraft before formal trials began. The building remained a private home until the early 20th century, then was restored to show how it once appeared.

Local residents still call this building by its common name, even though no convicted person was sentenced here. Visitors today walk through reproductions of simple colonial rooms where basic furniture, cooking tools and everyday objects show how a merchant family lived in early Massachusetts.

The entrance sits on Essex Street in downtown Salem, where tours run daily from 10 in the morning until 5 in the evening. Guides help explain the layout and function of each room, and the ground floor is wheelchair accessible.

Workers moved the entire structure roughly 35 feet (11 meters) from where it first stood during the 1940s to save it from demolition when the street was widened. It now remains the only building in Salem with a direct connection to the witch trials of 1692.

Location: Salem

Inception: 1675

Part of: Chestnut Street District

Address: 310 Essex St, Salem, MA 01970

Phone: +(978)7448815

Website: http://witchhouse.info

GPS coordinates: 42.52150,-70.89890

Latest update: December 22, 2025 15:47