1692 trialsFree to visit · Salem, Mass.
Proctor’s Ledge
The place the nineteen were actually hanged, confirmed only in 2016 and marked in 2017. It is a small stone memorial at the foot of Gallows Hill, in a street of houses, and it is the quietest of the three free sites.
Proctor’s Ledge
The execution site, identified in 2016 after three centuries of pointing at the wrong hill, and marked a year later.
For three centuries the town pointed at the top of Gallows Hill. In January 2016 the Gallows Hill Project confirmed the executions took place at this ledge below it, using the court record, the topography and a 1692 eyewitness account.
The memorial was dedicated on 19 July 2017, the 325th anniversary of the day five people were hanged together. A low semicircular granite wall carries the nineteen names, with a white oak behind it and the words “We Remember”.
It is about a mile from the center, which is why only one walk in our catalogue reaches it and the rest talk about it from somewhere else.
Getting there
Location confirmed by the Gallows Hill Project in January 2016 and marked on 19 July 2017. People live on this street; the memorial is their front view.
Pope Street, near the corner of Proctor Street, behind the Boston Street Walgreens
42.5227, −70.9086Google MapsApple MapsOpenStreetMap
Before you go
- There is no parking at the memorial; the usual advice is to park at Gallows Hill Park and walk
- The memorial faces private houses — people live at this address
- No hours are posted, which in practice means daylight
Walks that stop here
One of the walks we list name this place in their own description. That is the test we use — not our guess about where a route goes.
