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The Judges’ Line of Salem, Massachusetts
Every time I study profoundly haunted communities, patterns seem to emerge.
Patterns of tragedy. Patterns of injustice. And a pattern of reported hauntings.
In my 2007 book, The Ghosts of Austin, Texas, I talked about two major patterns connecting almost all hauntings in downtown Austin.
In Salem, Massachusetts, I’ve found an almost chilling pattern. It connects many prominent figures – victims and ruthless accusers – as well as events of the Salem Witch Trials.
Haunted ley lines and Salem’s ghosts
I’m not sure how other researchers overlooked these eerie connections that leave ghostly tracks across Salem and Boston’s North Shore.
However, paranormal patterns are among my specialties, and Salem’s landscape confirms these connections.
I’m calling one of these lines “The Judges’ Line.” It seems to be a ley line.
Ley lines are lines or paths that connect sites with unusual energy. They could be major churches or temples, sites of violence and tragedy, or have some other unusual – but clear and distinct – connection.
Some speculate that energy flows along those paths, and the energy was there even before the church was built or the violence occurred.
According to some theories, that energy may magnify the emotions or affect the thinking of people when they are on or near a ley line.
When I studied Salem’s history and it’s ghost stories, I saw a pattern.
It connects significant homes and businesses related to the judicial side of the Salem Witch Trials.
Even stranger, that same line also indicates where modern-day Salem judges have purchased homes.
The line extends directly to Gallows Hill Park, the most likely site of the 1692 hangings during the Salem Witch Trials.
Here’s a bird’s eye view of that line, related to the entire Salem, Massachusetts area:
In most cases, this line is ruler-straight, and it’s feet wide, not miles.
Here’s my preliminary, hand drawn map of the main locations.
You can use this – and a full-sized map of Salem – to find the spots I’ve indicated, and where the line extends.
Sites along Salem’s haunted ley line
(Numbers represent sites related to accusers. Letters are related to victims of the trials.)
1. Chestnut Street (represented by a straight, heavy black line) – Many modern-day judges and elected officials choose this street for their homes.
2. Judge Corwin’s home, also known as “Witch House” since he condemned so many witches during the Salem Witch Trials. The house’s original location was closer to the line. Later residents moved it.
3. Judge Hathorne’s home, also associated with the Salem Witch Trials. (Nathaniel Hawthorne changed the spelling of his own name to avoid any association with this ancestor.)
4. Sheriff George Corwin’s home – George Corwin was the son of Judge Corwin (#2) and benefited by seizing the property of convicted and admitted witches.
5. The home of Samuel Shattuck, whose testimony helped convict Bridget Bishop, one of the first Witch Trial victims.
6. The home of Massachusetts Bay Colony’s Governor Simon Bradstreet (1603 – 1697).
7. John Higginson Jr. lived here. He was the local magistrate. The Hawthorne Hotel was later built on this property.
8. Jacob Manning, a blacksmith, forged the shackles worn by many Witch Trial victims.
9. Thomas Beadle’s tavern, where Witch Trial inquests were held.
A. The home of Bridget Bishop, a Witch Trial victim who may be among the ghosts at the Lyceum Restaurant, now on that site.
B. Ann Pudeator, a Witch Trial victim whose specter was seen walking along Salem Common, even before her execution.
C. The home of John and Mary English, one of the wealthiest families in Colonial Salem. They were accused but escaped to New York.
D. Alice Parker’s home, owned by John and Mary English. Ms. Parker was accused of witchcraft and put to death.
The slightly triangular area near 7 and B represents Salem Common.
Gallows Hill Park is indicated on the far left side of the map. The “Judges Line” — generally indicated in yellow — points directly to it.
Points 6, 7 and 8 also represent sites with paranormal activity, or they are scenes of violence in the 19th and 20th century, or both.
As I continued my research, I found more, similar sites in Salem.
Most of them were along the Judges Line.
That’s a little chilling, and I wonder why these people felt so drawn to this particular energy path.
I rarely use the word “destiny,” but it still comes to mind as I look at the Judges’ Line and how it represents so much tragedy.
If you’re in Salem on Halloween night, try a stroll along that line. Over 300 years later, ghostly energy along the Judges’ Line may be more intense than you’d expected.