The Witch House, Salem: Judge Corwin's Home, Its History and Ghosts

The Witch House stands at the corner of Essex and North Streets in the heart of Salem, its black-brown clapboards and steep gables looking exactly like what most visitors imagine 1692 to have been. It was the home of Jonathan Corwin, a wealthy merchant and magistrate who served on the court that tried the accused in the Salem witch trials. No witch ever lived here; the name came much later.

The City of Salem has run the house as a museum since 1948, with rooms furnished to show how a prosperous Puritan family lived. It is also one of Salem’s most famous haunted places: visitors describe sudden chills, voices in empty rooms and a heavy feeling upstairs, and Ghost Adventures filmed here. This guide covers the history, the stories and how to visit.

History of the Witch House

Captain Nathaniel Davenport owned the land and began the house. In 1675 Jonathan Corwin, then 35 and heir to a large Puritan merchant fortune, bought it unfinished and hired housewright Daniel Andrews to complete it. It had steep front gables, a massive central chimney and a two-story entry porch. Corwin lived here for more than 40 years. No study has dated the timbers, so its exact age is uncertain; family claims of a 1642 date have no evidence behind them.

In 1692 Corwin was appointed to the Court of Oyer and Terminer, which heard the witchcraft cases, taking the seat of Nathaniel Saltonstall, who resigned after the first execution, of Bridget Bishop. The court sent 19 people to the gallows, and Giles Corey was pressed to death. Tradition holds that some of the accused were brought to this house for questioning, and a later owner told visitors that an upstairs chamber was where proceedings took place. Historians debate it, and some say the examinations were held elsewhere, so treat it as tradition.

Daniel Andrews, the man who finished the house, was himself accused of witchcraft in 1692. The Corwin family also suffered: several of the judge’s children died young in the 1680s, losses that later storytellers called the Corwin curse. The trials were later declared unlawful, and Massachusetts formally apologized in 1957.

The house passed to Corwin’s grandson George, and his widow, Sarah, remodeled it in 1746 and 1747, removing the front gables and adding a gambrel roof. By 1836 it had left the family. A pharmacist, George Farrington, bought it in 1856, built a shop on the Essex Street side and was the first to call it the Witch House. Around 1900 it was split into apartments and stores, and a 1924 fire damaged the attic.

In the 1940s the city planned to demolish it to widen North Street. Preservationists raised $58,000 in 1946, Historic Salem Inc. moved the house back out of the road’s path, and architects restored it to its presumed 17th-century look, rebuilding the gables and porch. In 1948 the group gave it to the City of Salem, which opened it as a museum, with adult admission of 30 cents. Much of what you see today is careful 20th-century reconstruction around an original 17th-century frame.

The ghosts of the Witch House

Voices and sudden chills

The most common reports are simple ones: visitors and staff describing voices when a room is empty, a sudden chill passing through them and the feeling of not being alone, especially upstairs. These are the kinds of experiences a dark, low-ceilinged 17th-century house invites, and none has been verified.

The accused

Stories say the house is haunted by people Corwin condemned, or by those said to have been questioned here. Since it is not certain any examinations took place in the house, these tales rest on tradition rather than record. They are part of why so many visitors find the rooms oppressive.

A child's voice and a touch

Older accounts, including our original guide, mention a child’s voice and visitors feeling touched. Some connect this to the Corwin children who died young in the house’s early years. It is folklore, but it is the story you will hear most on Salem ghost walks that stop outside.

On television

Ghost Adventures investigated the Witch House in 2011, and the house appears in the opening scenes of Hocus Pocus 2. Both have added to its fame, especially among October visitors.

Where to look

• The upstairs chambers: the rooms most often described as heavy or cold, including the chamber a later owner claimed was used for proceedings.
• The narrow stairs: beside the great central chimney, where visitors report the feeling of someone close behind.
• The ground-floor hall: the family’s main living room, with its huge fireplace.
• Outside at night: the house is lit after dark, and many Salem ghost walks stop at the corner of Essex and North Streets.

Visiting the Witch House

The Witch House is open seasonally as a city museum, with timed tickets sold online. Visits are self-guided through the 17th-century rooms, with exhibits on Corwin, Puritan life and the trials. Check the official site for current hours and prices before you go, especially outside October.

October is Salem’s busiest month by far, with long lines on Essex Street. Go as early in the day as you can, or visit in September or November. The Ropes Mansion and its garden are two doors down, and the Witch Trials Memorial and Old Burying Point are a ten-minute walk away.

• Visiting Museum with timed tickets; check the official site for the season
• Tours Self-guided visits of the 17th-century rooms

Tips for your visit

• Buy a timed ticket online, especially for October weekends.
• Go first thing in the morning to have the rooms to yourself.
• Come back after dark to see the house lit up from the street.
• Walk on to the Ropes Mansion, two doors down, and Howard Street Cemetery, where Giles Corey is believed to have died.
• Read up on the trials first: knowing the names makes the rooms far more powerful.

More haunted places nearby

• Haunted places in Salem: every haunted place in Salem, mapped
• The Merchant, Salem: the Joshua Ward House, linked to Sheriff George Corwin
• The Hawthorne Hotel, Salem: Salem’s best-known haunted hotel
• Haunted places in Massachusetts
• Haunted places in Salem

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

• The Witch House (official site)
• The Witch House: history
• Wikipedia: Jonathan Corwin House
• Ghost City Tours: The Witch House
• Ghost City Tours: haunted places in Salem