Hawthorne Hotel

Built in 1925 and named after author Nathaniel Hawthorne, this elegant hotel sits on land once owned by Bridget Bishop, the first woman executed for witchcraft in Salem. The hotel has been featured on Ghost Hunters and once held a seance attempting to contact Harry Houdini.

The Hawthorne Hotel rises six stories above Washington Square in the heart of Salem, a Colonial Revival landmark built in 1925 after residents voted to construct a proper hotel for their city. Named after author Nathaniel Hawthorne due to its proximity to his birthplace on Union Street and the House of Seven Gables on Derby Street, the hotel has become one of the most haunted accommodations in America—shaped by layers of dark history stretching back to Salem's bloodiest chapter.

The land beneath the Hawthorne carries a grim legacy. Bridget Bishop, the first woman executed during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, owned an apple orchard that stood on or near this site. On June 10, 1692, she was hanged after being accused of tormenting her neighbors through witchcraft—testimony included claims of a deformed monster seen fleeing through her orchard. While historians debate the precise location of Bishop's property, guests at the Hawthorne regularly report the unexplained scent of apples wafting through the halls, despite no apples being served in the hotel. Many believe her spirit has never left.

The hotel also inherited the ghosts of Salem's maritime past. The Salem Marine Society, established in 1766 as a fraternal organization of sea captains, held meetings on this site starting in 1830. When they sold the land for hotel construction, they stipulated they would maintain a presence in the building. Today, a replica cabin from the East India trading vessel Taria Topan sits atop the hotel where the Society still meets. In the restaurant Nathaniel's (formerly The Main Brace), a ship's wheel from the original meeting hall has become a paranormal focal point. Staff and guests have watched the wheel turn entirely on its own—and when physically stopped, it simply resumes spinning after they walk away. The ghosts of the old sea captains, it seems, are still navigating some spectral vessel.

Room 325 is the hotel's most requested haunted accommodation and its most disturbing. Guests are awakened in the night by the unmistakable sound of a baby crying in distress—yet no infant is present. The cries seem to emanate from within the room itself. Lights and water faucets turn on and off by themselves, and visitors feel the sensation of being touched by unseen hands. One houseman who experienced his entire work setup mysteriously rearranged refused to work night shifts afterward.

The sixth floor harbors a different presence. A spectral woman in a long white dress has been seen wandering the hallway, often pausing outside Room 612 before the door or standing motionless nearby. Those who stay in 612 report an oppressive feeling of sharing their room with an unseen presence. Some have watched the apparition enter the room at night, where she lingers and sometimes stares at herself in the mirror. Guests describe icy cold hands touching their shoulders and arms, or feeling their hair and clothing gently tugged by invisible fingers. The woman's identity remains unknown, though some connect her to Bridget Bishop herself.

The hotel's paranormal reputation drew national attention over the decades. In 1970, the television series "Bewitched" filmed scenes in the hotel's elevator—fitting for Salem's most famous witchcraft show. On October 30, 1990, a séance was held in the Grand Ballroom attempting to contact the ghost of Harry Houdini on the 64th anniversary of his death; the attempt was unsuccessful. In 2007, the SyFy series Ghost Hunters investigated the property but reported finding no definitive evidence—though this has done little to convince the countless guests who have experienced phenomena firsthand.

The Hawthorne Hotel was added to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Historic Hotels of America in 1990. Over its century of operation, it has hosted President Bill Clinton, actress Vanessa Redgrave (while filming a PBS series about the witch trials), and served as a filming location for the 2015 movie "Joy." But it is the uninvited guests—the ghostly woman in white, the crying phantom baby, the mischievous sea captains still turning their wheel—who have made the Hawthorne legendary among paranormal enthusiasts seeking to spend the night where Salem's violent history refuses to stay buried.