What to do and see in Salem, Massachusetts (MA): The Best History Museums

Phillips House is the only home on historic Chestnut Street open to the public, and it provides a glimpse into the private world of the Phillips family during the early decades of the twentieth century. The kitchen, pantry, and a domestic staff bedroom, present a rarely seen picture of how the great houses functioned as new technologies were being introduced.

The Gables is open Friday – Monday 10 AM – 4PM. We require staff and visitors to follow our mask and social distance policies even if you have had a COVID-19 vaccination. Tickets are sold online ONLY. Visitors will have the option to enjoy a grounds pass or a semi-private guided tour. Advance reservations are required for both of these experiences. PLEASE NOTE: The grounds pass does not include access to any historic interiors. Capacity is limited at our historic site. Online reservations will be available on a rolling basis in 2021. We expect to release tickets mid-month for the upcoming month (i.e. May tickets will be available around April 15). The Museum Store will be open during operating days and hours. Due to staff resources, we have limited time to answer phone calls and emails. Our website has the most up-to-date information to plan your visit.

Featuring holograms, ghostly projections,4D effects and live action, Gallows Hill is an exciting and immersive way to discover the terror of the Witch Trials, and the history of Salem's Haunted Places! A must see for any visitor. Our other main attractions include The Ghosts & Legends Trolley, and The Lost Museum, our haunted attraction. Gallows Hill makes for a complete interactive and memorable experience that returning visitors continue to see year after year! Open for group tours from March to Mid November. Currently open to the public daily in October.

This indoor maze offers visitors a guided tour through the history of witchcraft.

The only remaining Salem structure with direct ties to the witch trials of 1692.

The world's only museum dedicated to the history and mystery of the Ouija Board. Learn the true history of how the board got it's name and patented, it's impact on pop culture, influencing movies, tv and music as well as stories of murder, suicide and mysteries surrounding the board.

After a trial reenactment, visitors tour the recreated dungeon where the condemned witches were sent.

This small museum recounts the exploits of Captain Kidd and other 17th-century pirates.

Salem shipwright Eleazer Gedney built the earliest portion of the Gedney House in 1665. Originally, the house was an asymmetrical composition consisting of two rooms on the first floor, a single chamber above, and an attic with a front-facing gable. Significant renovations to the structure in 1712 and 1800 resulted in dramatic changes to the house's appearance. Gedney House was a single-family home until the Gedney family sold it in 1773 to Benjamin Cox, who used it for the next twenty-five years as an investment property. Around 1800, Cox added two townhouse-style ells to the west elevation of the house, converting it into a multi-family dwelling. During the years that followed, it served as a boarding house and tenement in what was then Salem's Italian-American neighborhood. In 1967, Historic New England acquired the house as it was being prepared for demolition.The house is significant not only for its framing, but also for its evidence of early decorative finishes in the hall chamber and parlor. Three successive color schemes, the earliest of which is believed to date to the house's construction, were discovered in the hall chamber. This evidence was preserved by the addition of plaster ceilings, beam casings, and paneled walls by the mid-eighteenth century. The Gedney House is open first Saturdays, June-October, from 11:00 a.M. - 3:00 P.M.