The Witch House on Essex Street is the only Salem building with a direct, documented connection to the witch trials of 1692: it was the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin, one of the magistrates who examined the accused and signed the warrants that sent them to the gallows. The structure dates to the 1620s–1640s, making it one of the oldest houses in New England, and the projecting upper stories and small leaded windows give it a suitably ominous profile.
The interior has been restored to approximate its 1692 appearance and is open for guided tours. The exhibits are straightforward, covering the trials, the accused, and the broader social context of Puritan Massachusetts. It's not the flashiest attraction in Salem, but it's the most historically direct — an actual place where the machinery of accusation and execution was set in motion.