#old salem jail

OLD SALEM JAIL

SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS

The reputably haunted correctional facility played host to an estimated 50 hangings and enjoys a long and dark history. The Old Salem Jail was built in 1813, located next to the Howard Street Cemetery, where accused witch Giles Corey was crushed to death. Among the many inmates to be incarcerated in the prison, Albert DeSalvo, more commonly known as the Boston Strangler, was famously confined here. By 1984 conditions in the prison had deteriorated to such a level that a federal judge ordered the jail’s closure, which eventually took place in 1991, until then, it had been the oldest operating prison in America. And there it sat abandoned, crumbling into ruin and collecting ghost stories as the years passed.

Visitors to the Old Salem Jail reported sightings of dark apparitions wandering the empty corridors and rooms of the prison. Mysterious lights were sometimes spotted shinning from within, and unearthly screams were heard echoing from the thick granite walls. Today, after an extensive renovation the structure has been turned into luxury apartments and the spirits of Old Salem Jail appear to be at rest, for the time being, that is.