Old Witch Jail
The site of the Old Witch Jail was 4 Federal St., at the corner of St. Peter Street (then called Prison Lane.) This was built n 1684. In approximately 1763, the wooden jail was rebuilt to replace and enlarge the old jail.
When a new stone jail was built in 1813,(on the corner of St. Peter and Bridge Street, this building was remodeled into a home. It is said that some timbers of the jail of 1684 were used in the construction of the
jail in 1763, according to the Visitor's Guide (1953 ed.) Alfred P. Goodell opened the house as a tourist attraction in 1935.
This structure were torn down in the mid-1950's to make way for New England Telephone Company's expansion. Before the building was torn down, historians made the careful discovery of beams from the 17th century that had been the structure of the original colonial period jail cell.
See Also
- Postcard Image courtesy of CardCow.com
- Salem Visitors' Guide 1953 ed., p. 152
- Salem Massachusetts ed. by K. Turino, p. 61
- Greetings from Salem by M.L. Martin and N. Wolfgang-Price, p. 17
