Murphy Funeral Home

A former funeral home that processed thousands of Salem's deceased over the decades. The building's history of handling the dead has left a strong spiritual presence that continues to be felt by visitors.

Murphy Funeral Home has served Salem's families since 1893, when Patrick W. Murphy founded one of the city's first funeral parlors on the site where the Hawthorne Hotel now stands—land that once held Bridget Bishop's apple orchard. Bishop was the first woman executed during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, and the original funeral home operated in the shadow of that dark history. For over 130 years and five generations, the Murphy family has prepared thousands of Salem's deceased for their final rest, creating a spiritual imprint that permeates the very walls of their establishments.

The funeral home's connection to the paranormal runs deep through its succession of locations. After operating at what became the Hawthorne Hotel site, the business moved to a building across from Immaculate Conception Church on Hawthorne Boulevard, then to the corner of North and Federal Streets in 1941—a street with profound connections to Salem's witch trial history. Federal Street was once home to the Salem Witch Jail, where accused witches including Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne were chained in dark dungeons, and where Giles Corey may have been pressed to death. The current facility at 85 Federal Street, built in 1965, sits within this corridor of suffering and death.

Staff members who have worked at Murphy Funeral Home over the decades report numerous encounters with the spirits of those who passed through their care. Apparitions of both adults and children have been seen moving through the embalming rooms and viewing areas, particularly during the quiet hours of night. Unexplained footsteps echo down empty hallways, doors open and close on their own, and sudden cold spots materialize without explanation. The sounds of disembodied weeping have been heard in the chapel area, as if mourners from long-ago services have left an emotional imprint on the building.

Paranormal investigators theorize that funeral homes become 'grief vortexes'—repositories for the intense emotions of thousands of funeral services, with sorrow embedding itself into the very structure. The high volume of death-related activity creates an atmosphere where spirits can more easily manifest, drawing energy from the mourners' grief. At Murphy Funeral Home, where generations of Salem families have said their final goodbyes, this accumulated emotional energy may explain why the departed sometimes linger.

Some believe the spirits at Murphy Funeral Home are not malevolent but rather confused souls who became attached to the location during their transition from life to death. Others speculate that the building's proximity to multiple historic sites associated with the witch trials has created a supernatural convergence. The Murphy family, now in their fifth generation of service, maintains their commitment to dignified, compassionate care—perhaps offering comfort not only to the living but to the spirits who remain.