55 replies to this topic

[Dodi]

Hey Am0rvincit0mnia, Where abouts in Salem are you? You should meet up with DukeofBoogie and his wife and I in April. (April 27) We're going to have lunch and do some hunting that night. Should be fun. Let us know if it sounds interesting?

[am0rvincit0mnia]

hey! i'm actually at Salem State... but that sounds pretty cool...

[Dodi]

I grew up in the projects right behind STC and my dad was the the Janitor there till he passed away in 1973.

Have you heard the story about the little boy who haunt the Autitorium? He grew up with us? Four doors down from me. He fell from the cat walks to the seating while playing one day. His name is Carly Oulette. He was about 7-8 years old. He suppose to haunt the place now since it happen so suddona nd traggicly. He was a sweet boy full of hell. A red headed freckle faced kid. He came from a large family. It really devestated out neighbourhood for a long time that a child that young could die so suddonly. I want to say it happen in the late 60's. It was a very long time ago. My dad was still alive.

[GhostCat]

I was at the Salem Jail today. I had to go to the city hall ( I live about 25 min away) and parked in the parking lot near the jail. Despite the cold and the wind, I visited the Howard St. cemetery next door. I had never been there before. I took several pictures. As I walked closer to the fence, I noticed the back gate was open. So I peeked in, and then saw the back door of the jail wide open. I poked my head in and yelled "hello" and found 3-4 people on there way out. They were the architects and were just leaving. They did say that they found the building to be in better condition than they thought. They even expected more graffiti and vandalism than what was there. They did say that it is going to be turned into a condo complex. They were nice people and I had to laugh when leaving because they all looked a little spooked. Too bad I did not show up earlier than I did, I am sure they would have let me in to look around. However, my husband has always had an interest in the jail and trying to get in to take photos, and he is sooooo close to arranging it. I will try to post the photos I took today below. I hope they are able to come out.

http://i5.photobucke...13/DCP12552.jpg

http://i5.photobucke...13/DCP12555.jpg

http://i5.photobucke...13/DCP12553.jpg

http://i5.photobucke...13/DCP12551.jpg

[DukeofBoogie]

Nice photos. I especially like the second one. I still don't like We were there this past April. Got a great orb at Howard St. cemetery. And we walked round the jail. We had to talk Dodi out of breaking in there LOL. I still think the condo thing is a bad idea. But that's JMO.

[Roxie Z]

http://oboylephoto.com/jail/

A very eerie photo essay of the interior. I would like to see something of value done to the structure.

[diamonds]

opterasis, on Mar 11 2005, 11:14 PM, said:

i already tried that ice, no one wanted to pitch in to buy Northampton State Hospital

hey goof ball whats up ? they started to tear down the foxboro metal hospital e mail me

diamonds, on Feb 18 2006, 10:07 PM, said:

opterasis, on Mar 11 2005, 11:14 PM, said:

i already tried that ice, no one wanted to pitch in to buy Northampton State Hospital

hey goof ball whats up ? they started to tear down the foxboro metal hospital e mail me

I have a question for the person who started the Salem jail converstion..... did you take the tour? because i did and i was told by the tour guide that the jail was moved and the one you tour though isnt even in the original spot... they moved it... also there are plenty of great restuarants around the area with the famous cemetery and the museum and shop so they dont need another restuarant....

[GhostCat]

The original one was the "Old Witch Jail" built in 1684. That is were the "witches" were kept before going off to be hanged on Gallows Hill. That jail was supposedly 50 ft from where the "old jail" is today. I don't think the old witch jail was moved. They didn't physically move buildings in those days and I am sure the witch jail was much much smaller than the old jail. The "old jail" was built in 1813 and is the brick section still standing today, the granite section was added on in 1884.

[DukeofBoogie]

What I heard (back during my first trip to Salem) was that the original "Witch Dungoen" was unearthed by the the phone company in the 50's or something. Theere was no organization to protect the find so they destroy it and kept on going. All that remains is one beam on display at the Witch Dungueon Museum.

And I also heard that it was near the spot os the Jail that stands by the Howard St. Cemetery.

[diamonds]

opterasis, on Mar 12 2005, 03:22 PM, said:

my stuffed parrot on my shoulder is all i need!

oh my god you are such a dork!!!!!!!!! lol

GhostCat, on Feb 19 2006, 12:51 AM, said:

The original one was the "Old Witch Jail" built in 1684. That is were the "witches" were kept before going off to be hanged on Gallows Hill. That jail was supposedly 50 ft from where the "old jail" is today. I don't think the old witch jail was moved. They didn't physically move buildings in those days and I am sure the witch jail was much much smaller than the old jail. The "old jail" was built in 1813 and is the brick section still standing today, the granite section was added on in 1884.

hello...i know they dont move buildings ( usually, but sometimes they do move portions of them to add on to others ) but the witch jail was in a different builoding as was the the regular jail.... i m not making up stuff...ive been there a lot and done some research also....( they just switched buildings ...is that worded better?

[GhostCat]

Does anyone know if there is anything new with this? Has it sold, what are the new owners going to do with it?
Condos?? Curious that is all, as my husband and a group were trying to and were so close to getting funding to restore it as a historical landmark and eventually open to the public when finished as the old Salem Jail. Real story, current City Mayor of Salem, sold it off to developers, not even considering it being funded as an historical landmark. We had been in touch with her several times, not only updating her to save it, but to get some last interior photos of it, and she absolutely would not let us in the door. I witnessed many of her friends/co-workers touring the place (even though she said no one was allowed in there). What a liar and what a thing for her to decide what to do with the Salem Jail when everyone else in the community wants to keep it as a historical landmark, and the funding for all of this was right in place. Lol, guess a real witch is in charge of Salem, MA.

[YankeePyrate]

My impression of Salem in the times I've been there is just sadness and disappointment. The historical aspects of the old town have not been preserved and celebrated the way they should have been, the way other cities do. When I walk around the old Burying Ground I get overwhelmed with such profound sadness, that I feel is coming from Salem's residents of centuries past. All they see is a city profiteering from one tiny dark chapter of an otherwise rich and worthy history.

[Dodi]

I started this thread. I didn't take the tour, wasn't aware they even gave one but I've been outta Salem for almost a year now... I had been into the salem Jail when it was open... (Just vititng someone Duke) and it looked pretty much the same... as far as I know it was not moved, this is where it was built...There was an other Salem Jail before this that housed the witches and such... It is where the New Englant Telephone Co now stands... When it was unearhed in the 50's (and this is from my uncle who helped do this) They found a cellar and sub cellar... there were wiskey jugs, clothes, and actually a few bones left there... Salem has a Dark History as well as it public history... I do believe that I was told there are still some beams in on e of the tourist attactions today... It might be the Witch Dungen...

And yes, Duke, If I could have got in there that night or any other night, I would have been in there... There is so much history in that building I can't believe what they are doing to it.

I think the building some may be confusing is the Old Salem Police Station, just a a few feet from the Old Burial Point, also a very old building with alot of history within it's walls... And this was turned into Condo's too... The building shell is still there, just condos on the inside now...

I was born and grew up in Salem, and let me tell you, some of the stuff taught in the scholos about Salem were wrong... LMAO... but even school books are a judment call... it's all how you see it... You can have a room full of people in one place, give them info and ask each one what they got and you'll hear things you didn't even heard mentioned in the original message... It's all part of life and our own views.

I've been out of Salem for almost a year now, I got an e mail telling me that The Old Salem Jail was gonna be condo's... In my opinion... all those meeting helt to see what would be done ws nothing more than the city going through the motions... They knew all along what they were gonna do with it any ways...

As far as it being a theme resteraunt... I still think that was a great idea and a museum as well... Salem does have reseraunts, but nothing that special... believe me...


Dodie

[mlc73208]

Dodi,

I have to agree with you about the school books. I lived in Beverly from 1987 until 1992. We neve really touched upon the witch trials or anything related to it. The teachers figured we lived right there we should know enough already. When I graduated from Beverly High School I realized that even though I did live right there I hardly knew anything. Only on my own have I learned what I have. I remember walking past the Parker Brothers building and having the jail be right there and still open at the time. Hearing the inmates yell out the windows was a creepy thing to a teenage girl. The cemetery was a place I always wanted to visit (in the daylight-I'm a chicken) but the jail was open so I couldn't. Now that I am in Florida I plan on sometime soon taking my kids up there to where I lived and show them what they won't learn in school and places that their mother used to roam as a teen.

Michelle

[thesameones]

Interesting news. When I was in Salem I couldn't get a picture of that place. I drained 3 sets of freshly charged batteries trying. Just wasn't going to happen.