photos of historic places Archives - Witchery Art: A Gothic Cabinet of Curiosities and Mysteries

Jerusha Howe’s bedroom at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn

Haunted Hotels and B&Bs, Lexington and Concord, photos of historic places, True Ghost Stories

Wayside Inn, Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Room 9 is the room to get when staying at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn outside Sudbury, Massachusetts. It’s said to host the spirit of Jerusha, who has been known to snuggle up to male guests during the night, when they stay in the room alone. But don’t come expecting much in the way of modern entertainment. As it is one of the oldest rooms in the inn, great pains have been taken to keep the room with as much of a colonial era feel as possible, which means not even a TV.

If you look around, you’ll notice scraps of paper tucked into the ceiling which are notes from previous guests, typically talking about their stay at the inn, or their experiences with Jerusha. If you look real hard, there’s also a treasure box stashed in the room, which is well worth seeking out.

The Wayside Inn was where Henry Wadsworth Longfellow stayed whilst forming the poem Paul Revere’s Ride, and is one of the oldest, if not oldest continually operating inns in the United States.

Learn more about Longfellow’s Wayside Inn and Room 9

The Wayside Inn’s official site

The real mystery of Long Island’s Shep Jones Lane

Historic Towns and Villages, photos of historic places, Tales From Head of the Harbor & St. James

Shep Jones Lane is notorious for being considered one of Long Island’s most haunted spots. The road begins paved before petering out, leaving one seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and actually passes through the Avalon Preserve in Stony Brook, as well as property belonging to the Nature Conservancy. Hikers and strollers alike are common in the area in the daytime, but at night, the curious come out to play.

There are a multitude of folk tales involving an infamous Mary on Long Island, and one of the most harrowing involves Shep Lane. In all likelihood, this particular story isn’t old enough to fall into the category of folklore, but more likely a recently invented urban legend. In this tale, Mary is abused by the man of the family who took her in, prior to hanging herself from shame, guilt or sadness. Too often the name Shep Jones is used to refer to the legendary instigator of these heinous acts.

In reality, like the Mary stories from nearby Head of the Harbor, the names behind the places were real people, and well-known people at that. The real mystery is who was Shep Jones?

Shephard Jones owned a general store on Shep Jones Lane for many years, and was also a successful Smithtown politician. As a young man he was a noted fiddler, immortalized by painter William Sydney Mount, who was his second cousin, neighbor and friend. In addition to his business affairs, Jones was elected as Smithtown Supervisior in 1880.

Irish music afficionados will recognize the Shep Jones Hornpipe, which was passed down from his playing and first notated by William Sydney Mounts, a musician himself, in February of 1854. Hear the Shep Jones Hornpipe played by Tim Eriksen here.

The Witches’ Field in Salem Village, Where the Wicked Gathered When George Burrough blew his horn

photos of historic places, Salem and Essex County, Witchcraft and Magick

Salem Witch Hunt Locations: The Witches’ Field near the Foundation of the Old Salem Village Parsonage

From the Salem Witchcraft Papers, Boyer and Nissenbaum, 1977

1st June 1692

Abigaile Hobbs then confessed before John Hathorn & Jonathan Corwin Esq’rs That the generall meeting of the Witches in the feild near Mr Parrisse’s house she saw Mr George Burroughs, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne Bridgett Bishop als. Olliver & Giles Cory, two or three nights agone, Mr Burrough came & sat at the window & told her he would terribly afflict her for saying so much ag’t him & then pinch her, deliverance Hobbs then saw s’d Burroughs & he would have tempted her to sett her hand to the book & almost shooke her to pieces because she would not doe it.

Mary Warren Testifyeth that when she was in prison in Salem about a fortnight agone Mr George Burroughs, Goody Nurse Goody procter Goody parker, Goody pudeator, Abigail Soames, Goodman Procter, Goody Darling [Dowing?] & others unknowne came to this depon’t & Mr Burroughs had a trumpett & sounded it, & they would have had this depon’t to have gone up with them to a feast at Mr Parrisses & Goody Nurse & Goody Procter told her this depon’t they were Deacons & would have had her eat some of their sweet bread & wine & she asking them what wine that was one of them said it was blood & better then our wine but this depon’t refused to eat or drink with them & they then dreadfully afflicted her at that tyme.

Sworne the first of June 1692
John Hathorne
Jonathan Corwin

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You have to know where to look to find the foundations of the Salem Village Parsonage, where the Salem witch hysteria had its beginnings. Tucked between houses is a flagstone cart road which takes you back to the location where the Tituba and a handful of young girls first explored the dark arts. In all likelihood this was one of the only instances of witchcraft in Salem.

To add insult to injury, the young girls who acted as witness to the trials of twenty people sent to the gallows located the meeting spot for the witches’ sabbath in the orchard just to the north and west of the minister’s parsonage.

Today it’s all but impossible to find the spot the girls referred to, as likely or not there’s a house sitting on it now, or it’s someone’s back yard. But of all the locations mentioned during the Salem witch hunts, the Salem Village Parsonage is one of the few that keeps its aura of mystery.

Einstein at the Belvedere on Long Island

Historic Towns and Villages, Long Island, photos of historic places

Einstein at The Belvedere, The Jesse Case Home, c. 1860, Peconic, Suffolk County, North Fork of Long Island, New York

Albert Einstein was a life-long pacifist, till the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930′s when he fled to the United States. As a physicist, he became convinced that physics could play a part in the creation of a weapon which could bring the end to this war, and perhaps all wars. A letter was written, mainly by Leó Szilárd in consultation with fellow Hungarian physicists Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner, and was sent to Einstein. He agreed with the concept, and whilst staying at the Long Island home now known as the Belvedere (currently a bed and breakfast), affixed his name to the document, walked down the road to the tiny town of Peconic’s post office, and sent it to Washington, where it found its way to President Roosevelt. Roosevelt authorized the research, and the Manhattan Project was begun, which was to result in the world’s first atomic weapon.

It is said that Einstein later regretted signing the letter. That I believe, is a sentiment shared by many of us.