Proctor’s Ledge, Salem 1692

For three centuries nobody knew exactly where the Salem witch trial executions happened. Gallows Hill was assumed, but in 2016 a team of historians called the Gallows Hill Project settled it using deeds, court records and a 1692 eyewitness account: a low rocky ledge just off Proctor Street, overlooked by houses today. A memorial was dedicated there in 2017. Get the facts right when you visit: nineteen people were hanged here, not burned, and one, Giles Corey, was pressed to death under stones for refusing to plead. The Salem Witch Trials Memorial downtown names all twenty.