55 replies to this topic

[ameliad05]

If it's the same jail that I had seen on a ghost tour back in '07 they haven't done anything with it. i hope they don't do that restaurant thing the way that u say. that would be so disrespectful because if the history that i've heard about it is true, the prisoners went through a lot of mistreatment and making it into some mockery would just be wrong. i'd say make it into something for the veterans like u mentioned or a museum of some sort, preferably on the history of the jail. i just hope they don't tear it down.

[GhostCat]

They haven't done anything with it. I was just in Salem the other day and went by to check on it. They are not going to tear it down either. As far as I know, they are sticking with the original plan to turn it into condominiums.

[thesameones]

GhostCat, on Feb 10 2006, 06:13 PM, said:

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

Condos would be bad. I did notice some sort of construction (parking lot maybe) on the street side of the jail when we were there. I had hoped it wouldn't be some thing like a condo. Seeing the results of that sort of development all over the nation I know it is never good. Salem is comercialized enough. Condos will add to that. Small business will fail and/or be pushed out. WalMarts pop up. Lots of over priced, under quality, large, ugly business pops up. Historic buildings will be razed to make way for these. It's never a good thing for locals and history.

How old is the jail? It doesn't seem that old. It's brick and block. Pre-1800 structures are more often stone. Was there a different structure there at one time?

[salem ghost]

i dont know if i believe in ghosts but im working in the salem jail and its effin scary. we just found the trap door and noose hook where they did the hangings. Every warden died of mysterious heart deseases...... unbelievable how these prisoners were treated.

[Lysithia]

salem ghost, on Jun 3 2009, 05:45 AM, said:

i dont know if i believe in ghosts but im working in the salem jail and its effin scary. we just found the trap door and noose hook where they did the hangings. Every warden died of mysterious heart deseases...... unbelievable how these prisoners were treated.

Wow, I'm kind of envious!!

I'm directly descended by one of the poor women killed in the Salem Witch Trials (Margaret Scott if there's any old records or documents at your jail. She was executed Sept 22, 1692).

[Dodi]

I can't say I know that name, but I can tell you that Giles Cory and his wife were killed on or very close to that date.

As far as the Jail goes, I would love to get into the place and do some photography and exploring.
It's something I wanted to do even as a child. The building has so much history and beauty to it. I know there were some pretty awful things done there right upto the day it was closed. But it also has alot of history to it... It was the oldest working Jail in the US till it closed...

Lysithia, on Jun 3 2009, 08:09 AM, said:

salem ghost, on Jun 3 2009, 05:45 AM, said:

i dont know if i believe in ghosts but im working in the salem jail and its effin scary. we just found the trap door and noose hook where they did the hangings. Every warden died of mysterious heart deseases...... unbelievable how these prisoners were treated.

Wow, I'm kind of envious!!

I'm directly descended by one of the poor women killed in the Salem Witch Trials (Margaret Scott if there's any old records or documents at your jail. She was executed Sept 22, 1692).

[Lysithia]

Dodi, on Jun 9 2009, 07:23 AM, said:

I can't say I know that name, but I can tell you that Giles Cory and his wife were killed on or very close to that date.

As far as the Jail goes, I would love to get into the place and do some photography and exploring.
It's something I wanted to do even as a child. The building has so much history and beauty to it. I know there were some pretty awful things done there right upto the day it was closed. But it also has alot of history to it... It was the oldest working Jail in the US till it closed...

Sept 22 was one of the last days of execution of the witches, so she is a little more anonymous. A neighbour of mine visited Salem last summer and she brought me back a shirt from one of the tourist shops with the names of the executed, their date and the town they were from (township? county?). My ancestor is one of the last on that shirt and there's a ? for her town. They don't have a lot of information about her at all (so the story seems to go in our history. We have a couple of missing links).

So, I was researching some Witch Trial things on the net and found some scanned in court documents. According to them, she was being accused by a couple who were friends of a deceased man who claimed her spector haunted and tormented him and caused him afflictions. Thatwas enough to convict her, a dead man's testimony... heresay.

*facepalm*

[Stefanie]

I was at the graveyard and the old jail this past Sunday as recommended by the owner of the Spellbound Museum on Essex Street. (Funny how I met her, I had no idea who she was, but she had a beautiful dog!) Any how, my boyfriend and I took the path past the jail and into the graveyard where we were told was a decent haunting spot. I got some strange pains in the front of my forehead in three places. (front, and both temples) Then I heard a woman humming a song behind me, and no one was there. (figures!) We got an interesting picture from near the fence with my cellphone that looked like a man coming at us, or guarding the fence.

Of course, I had to edit this a little bit so you could view him better, but see the red outline?

http://i712.photobuc...ic070509_27.jpg

It was very interesting, a few short seconds after he took this picture I got a loud, wretched, screeching sound in my right ear.

But back to the jail itself - all the interesting things aside - it's being torn down completely by the looks of it, they've torn off the front side of the stairs and door and they're gutting the place from the inside. I don't want it to go, I want that to stay there. It's a beautiful site with a lot of serious history to it. I'm very angry that they're modernizing Salem to the point of it becoming a tourist attraction. I was born at Salem hospital, I lived there as a child, then I moved to Saugus and I'm currently residing in Peabody. I can hardly bear to see Salem being urbanized and some of the tourists who visit are extremely disrespectful. Yes, a lot of this is historical, fun to look at, and a real spectacle, but it's still a resting place for a lot of people and it deserves the same respect.

I really wish that they didn't have any plans to destroy that beautiful jail, it's a wonderful building.

[GhostCat]

I was by there 2 days ago, and the whole place is being "gutted".. I hope I can go back soon and take some more photos... It was stange, but with the windows and doors all off, you could get a glimpse in..

[GhostCat]

Published: July 24, 2009 05:45 am

Police arrest teen ghost hunters
By Bruno Matarazzo Jr.
Staff Writer

SALEM — Three Revere teens on the hunt for ghosts at the Old Salem Jail yesterday will tell a judge today why they should stay out of the current jail.

Police arrested Jeremy McCarthy, 18, Anthony Enriquez, 19, and Anthony Pio, 18, on charges of breaking and entering to commit a misdemeanor and trespassing.

The three teens told police they heard the Old Salem Jail is haunted and wanted to take pictures.

One of the teens did have a camera with him.

Police Lt. Scott Englehardt said police received a call at 6:20 p.m. to say three men jumped a fence at the old jail property, which is under construction.

Patrolmen James Johnson, Rafael Gonzales and Brian St. Pierre responded to the Old Salem Jail and jumped the fence themselves.

New Boston Ventures plans to convert the jail, a burned-out jail keeper's house and a crumbling old barn, which will be replaced, into 23 residences.

In addition, they plan a restaurant and a jail exhibit space, which will display three of the old jail cells. Some of the cell doors will be inlaid into the walls of the corridors of the main jail building.

All three will be arraigned today at Salem District Court.

[Black Rose]

GhostCat, on Jul 13 2009, 08:53 PM, said:

I was by there 2 days ago, and the whole place is being "gutted".. I hope I can go back soon and take some more photos... It was stange, but with the windows and doors all off, you could get a glimpse in..

I have always had a large intrest in the jail. Im currently not in salem to witness all that's going on and i would love to know all the info possible on what's going on with the construction. Would u please let me know every detail possible on what's going on with the jail. I would appreciate it alot.


Thanks!!

xoxoxxxxx Black Rose