Hawthorne Hotel

"The Hawthorne Hotel is located in the city of Salem, Massachusetts which is also known as the “witch city” due to the infamous Salem witch trials that took place in the year of 1692. The hotel was constructed after over five hundred thousand dollars was raised through the sale of stocks sold to various business men and individuals located in and around the city of Salem to build a “modern hotel for Salem”. The hotel was named after Salem’s famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne who wrote the novels “The Scarlett Letter” and “The House of the Seven Gables”. The hotel officially opened for business on the 23 of July in the year 1925. In the year of 1830, the site where the hotel stands today became the meeting location for the “Salem Marine Society” which made a deal when the hotel was constructed that their original structure could be torn down and that their meetings would then continue at the location in a new room built on top of the hotel. The Salem Marine Society’s function was to aid the mariners if they became disabled as well as the family members of the mariners such as the widowers of the deceased. The Salem Marine Society also worked to improve the local navigation and safety of the vessels traveling in the New England area. The Salem Marine Society is still active to this very day and still hold their meetings at the top of the hotel, however, this meeting room is not accessible to the public. The Hawthorne Hotel has had many famous guests and been utilized and seen in numerous television shows including “Bewitched”, and the Sci-Fi (Syfy) channels show “Ghost Hunters”. Over the years, there have been many reports of paranormal activity within the hotel and much of it has been attributed to the now deceased captains who participated in the meetings of the Salem Marine Society. At one time, the restaurant that is now called “Nathaniel’s” was called “The Main Brace” and contained a large ship’s wheel as part of its nautical theme. Numerous individuals have reported seeing this wheel turn on its own with no apparent source behind the movement and have attempted to stop the wheel only for it to resume once again to turning on its own." Ghost Hunters location. (Season 3 Ep 17 Oct 2007)