Mystery spot of Salem "witch" hangings found near a Walgreens By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.25.16 Word Count 705 This 1876 illustration shows the courtroom of the Salem witch trials. The girl on the ground is accusing others of witchcraft. Photo: Wikimedia Commons The morning of June 10, 1692, started with a hanging in Salem, Massachusetts. Bridget Bishop was a Salem woman convicted of witchcraft. In truth, probably her only crimes were gossip and inappropriate behavior, at least by the Puritans' strict standards. She was taken to a spot near Salem. Her hands were bound behind her back, her legs and petticoat tied tight. Her neck was slipped through a loop of rope tied to a tree branch, and she was placed halfway up a ladder. Then, even as Bishop said she was innocent, the ladder was kicked out from under her. Within a few minutes she was dead. Bishop was the first of 19 people to be hanged in this spot, more than 300 years ago, during the Salem witchcraft trials. But until this week, no one knew exactly where it was that Bishop and her fellow "witches" had been killed.
Villagers Could See The Ledge They were killed, it turns out, on a wooded ledge overlooking town. At the time, the spot could have been seen from houses in the village below. It let everyone witness "an example of what happens to people who break the law," said historian Emerson "Tad" Baker, a member of the Gallows Hill Project, which found the spot. These days, it overlooks something slightly less frightening than a gallows. It is near a Walgreens. People come to Salem from all over wanting to know where the hangings happened, said Kenneth Glover. He gives tours in Salem. Now Glover can tell them, if he wants to. City Plans A Historic Marker The city of Salem plans to put a plaque at the spot. Officials are also seeking funds to clean up the area and get it ready for a flood of tourists. "This is part of our history," said Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll. "And this is an opportunity for us to be honest about what took place." Salem's witch trials started in January 1692, when 9-year-old Elizabeth Parris and her 11- year-old cousin Abigail Williams began having strange fits. They were the daughter and niece of Salem's minister. A doctor said they were the victims of witchcraft. Under pressure from local officials, the girls blamed three local women. Before long, their fits spread to nearly a dozen girls. Eventually, more than 200 people would be accused of witchcraft. Many Documents Describe Trials More than 1,000 documents survive from the Salem trials, Baker said. However, none of them says exactly where the 19 people were killed. Some believed that the men and women were hanged at the top of a hill in Salem, which is now called Gallows Hill. It was a reasonable conclusion, given the name and the fact that witnesses identified the hill as the execution spot. But that hill did not quite fit the descriptions. So Baker and other members of the Gallows Hill Project team began looking through the documents. Their best bet was the spot near the Walgreens, known as Proctor's Ledge. John Proctor was one of the "witches" killed there, and the ledge is about a quarter of a mile from Gallows Hill. It had first been identified more than a century earlier by lawyer and historian Sidney Perley.
The city of Salem bought the land in 1936 and called it "Witch Memorial Land." Radar, Aerial Photos Find The Spot But Perley did not have modern technology, so there was no way to make sure that his guess was correct. Returning to Perley's spot with ground-penetrating radar and aerial photography, the Gallows Hill Project researchers were able to map out what the ledge would have looked like 300 years ago. They matched it to descriptions of the site from 300 years ago. This time, they were sure they had found the right place. The discovery doesn't change much. There are no artifacts to be found and no remains, because the soil was too shallow for burials, Baker said. Archaeologists could not even hope to uncover the gallows, since most historians believe the witches were hanged from trees. Nevertheless, the victims of Salem's centuries-old witch trials will have their small plaque. And the researchers who found the site of their deaths will have the satisfaction of solving the mystery.
Quiz 1 Which detail would be MOST important to include in a summary of the article? Bridget Bishop was the first person to be hanged at Proctor's Ledge. The place where the "witches" were hanged is located near a Walgreens. The witch trials began in 1692 when two girls began acting strangely. A team used old documents and modern technology to find the location of the hangings. 2 Which sentence from the introduction [paragraphs 1-4] BEST states the main idea of the article? The morning of June 10, 1692, started with a hanging in Salem, Massachusetts. Then, even as Bishop said she was innocent, the ladder was kicked out from under her. In truth, probably her only crimes were gossip and inappropriate behavior, at least by the Puritans' strict standards. But until this week, no one knew exactly where it was that Bishop and her fellow "witches" had been killed. 3 Read the following paragraph from the section "Villagers Could See The Ledge." They were killed, it turns out, on a wooded ledge overlooking town. At the time, the spot could have been seen from houses in the village below. It let everyone witness "an example of what happens to people who break the law," said historian Emerson "Tad" Baker, a member of the Gallows Hill Project, which found the spot. How does the paragraph above help develop the idea that the location of gallows site was chosen purposefully? It was at a place where the people in town could watch the hangings. It was discovered by historians on the Gallows Hill Project. It was a wooded area outside of the village's center. It was a frightening location back in the 1690s. 4 Read the section "Radar, Aerial Photos Find The Spot." Select the paragraph in the section that describes how historians confirmed their hypothesis about the location of the gallows.
Answer Key 1 Which detail would be MOST important to include in a summary of the article? Bridget Bishop was the first person to be hanged at Proctor's Ledge. The place where the "witches" were hanged is located near a Walgreens. The witch trials began in 1692 when two girls began acting strangely. A team used old documents and modern technology to find the location of the hangings. 2 Which sentence from the introduction [paragraphs 1-4] BEST states the main idea of the article? The morning of June 10, 1692, started with a hanging in Salem, Massachusetts. Then, even as Bishop said she was innocent, the ladder was kicked out from under her. In truth, probably her only crimes were gossip and inappropriate behavior, at least by the Puritans' strict standards. But until this week, no one knew exactly where it was that Bishop and her fellow "witches" had been killed. 3 Read the following paragraph from the section "Villagers Could See The Ledge." They were killed, it turns out, on a wooded ledge overlooking town. At the time, the spot could have been seen from houses in the village below. It let everyone witness "an example of what happens to people who break the law," said historian Emerson "Tad" Baker, a member of the Gallows Hill Project, which found the spot. How does the paragraph above help develop the idea that the location of gallows site was chosen purposefully? It was at a place where the people in town could watch the hangings. It was discovered by historians on the Gallows Hill Project. It was a wooded area outside of the village's center. It was a frightening location back in the 1690s.
4 Read the section "Radar, Aerial Photos Find The Spot." Select the paragraph in the section that describes how historians confirmed their hypothesis about the location of the gallows. Paragraph 19: Returning to Perley's spot with ground-penetrating radar and aerial photography, the Gallows Hill Project researchers were able to map out what the ledge would have looked like 300 years ago. They matched it to descriptions of the site from 300 years ago. This time, they were sure they had found the right place.