[/caption]All right, chugging right along! Maybe stalled at the station a bit, but hey, that’s how life goes.
After a day of frolicking about Salem, taking in all the sights and the history and the revelry, we crashed at the Hawthorne Hotel, noted as one of the more haunted hotels in the city. Its 93 rooms were full the entire weekend we stayed there, and for good reason; the hotel is smack in the middle of all the excitement!
[caption id="attachment_686" align="aligncenter" width="269" caption="Our room, 310! I enthusiastically approve."]
[/caption]Named for one of Salem’s former residents, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Hawthorne Hotel opened for business in late July of 1925. Parades were held in celebration of its opening, and it became a landmark in short time. Today, it is home to two restaurants, a tavern, and a ballroom where many wedding receptions. It should come as no surprise that the weddings held there tend to have a Halloween theme. ;)
The site where the hotel stands today became the meeting place for the Salem Marine Society, a group whose goal was to aid disabled mariners and their families in the case of injury or death, and to improve the local navigation and safety of the vessels traveling in New England. They made a deal when the hotel was constructed that their original structure could be torn down so long as they could continue their meetings in a new room built on the top of the hotel (which is, sadly, not open to the public). The group is still active today and still holds its meetings in that very room.
If you didn’t already know, part of the show Bewitched was actually filmed there! In 1970, a fire at the soundstage where the show was initially filmed meant they had to produce somewhere else, and a series of episodes were set in and near Salem. The cast and crew all bunked at the Hawthorne during the shooting, and it’s rumored that stars Elizabeth Montgomery and William Asher stayed in room 512. When one scene featured the hotel itself, it was named the Hawthorne Motor Hotel and showcased the mail chute between the hotel’s two main elevators.
As you can imagine, being a notable hotel in the Witch City, the Hawthorne is credited with many a ghost story. One is that an apple orchard owned by Bridget Bishop (the first person hanged at Gallow’s Hill during the Salem Witch Trials) once stood where the Hawthorne currently is, and some report that apples could be smelled in the hotel. (The same story revolves around 43 Church Street, a restaurant not too far from Hawthorne and formerly known as the Lyceum Restaurant; there are reports of smelling apples while walking the brick courtyard behind the restaurant.)
Certain rooms are also said to be haunted:
- Room 325, where guests have reported the water and lights turning on by themselves
- Suite 612, where guests have reported an apparition in the form of a woman wandering the hallway just outside the room
- The “Lower Deck” or Library, where a hotel employee refused to work nights in the room after he set up the furniture, only to have it moved into new positions upon his return
(I have to admit here that Matt and I experienced some strange feelings while walking about the hotel on Samhain. The first was a very particular feeling of beings moving all around us while we were alone in the Library; the second was having hot, clammy hands [when the rooms themselves were very cold!] upon entering The Skylark Room on the second floor. Very creepy, but in my opinion, incredibly cool!)
While the hotel itself can feel a little creepy, even if you’re just staying in the area for a vacation, I urge you to check it out! The Paranormal aside, the Hawthorne itself has a very rich history and a very long list of celebrity stays, so it’s well worth checking out and, if you’re brave enough, staying at. Though I must warn you, if you’re looking to go during the Halloween season, book far in advance! Those rooms fill up 9 to 12 months in advance.
Happy hauntings! :)
I'm still jealous of you!
ReplyDeleteAnd I didn't know Bewitched was partially filmed there... Too cool! :)
I doubt I'll get the chance to visit there, but you can be sure I'll grab the oppertunity with both hands should it present itself!
[...] House of Seven Gables was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne (as you’ll remember, the namesake for the hotel at which we stayed!) and was based off the very home we toured. Built in 1668 by Salem sea captain [...]
ReplyDeleteHaha, just wait until I get more pictures up. ;) The trip was EPIC!
ReplyDeleteAnd oh yes, you totally should!
I stayed in room 612 and I had a recurring nightmare of a woman answering the hotel room door and being shot. The hotel staff had nothing to say about it and I have found nothing on the web to explain if this actually happened in the hotel. She was wearing an old fashioned floor length dress with the high collar with ruffles to the floor from late 1800 or early 1900.
ReplyDeleteI usually sleep very sound, but oddly enough, even after a few cocktails, every time I feel asleep, I had the same recurring dream only that night in that room. At least three to four or six times I would continually fall asleep and then have the same dream (sometimes I would be the woman and other times I would be watching the woman answer the door and then be shot dead), and wake up.