With a history that stretches back to the early 1600s, the legacy associated with multiple people and eras can be found all over Salem, Massachusetts. Although the modern city is defined by the identity that the Salem Witch Trials have cultivated, many of the monuments located across Salem are connected to people and eras that have nothing to do with this “Witch City” identity. Others are tied to it in very unique ways.
Recognized as the first settler of Salem in 1626, the Roger Conant Statue depicts him in a massive cloak and standing atop a huge boulder. Conant built the first Salem house and was active in the affairs of the town throughout his life. He died in 1679 while his statue was dedicated almost three hundred years later, in 1913.
Located next to the Hawthorne Hotel, the Nathaniel Hawthorne Statue was installed on Hawthorne Boulevard in 1925. Depicting the American novelist who was born in Salem and lived near the location, the piece features Hawthorne seated on a rock that appears to be covered with seaweed. It has come to serve as an attraction for the hotel as well as a way for residents and visitors to connect with a local legend.
Captain William Driver was a Salem native who is credited with naming the American flag “Old Glory.” A fundraiser to erect a monument to him began in 1968. With the assistance of hundreds of school children in Salem, the Captain William Driver Monument was eventually constructed at the corner of Essex and North Streets.
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he Statue of Elizabeth Montgomery depicts the woman who starred as the witch Samantha in the sitcom “Bewitched.” The show has been credited with compelling Salem to embrace the legacy of the past rather than ignore it by turning witches into big business for Salem. That recognition is part of the reason it wasn’t dedicated until 2005, long after the show ended. The statue itself has attracted tourists to the area to the benefit of the surrounding businesses.
These are just some of the obscure and outstanding monuments located across Salem. While the “Witch City” identity is pervasive across the region, the history and legacy represented by these other pieces highlight how Salem is about much more than that event or singular identity. Although the unique connections to this identity are similarly powerful.
