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Time to get spooked out! We've given you the spookiest, scariest, little-known details about Massachusetts' frightful past. From a tidal wave of molasses to the world's largest brain bank, you'll have fun sharing these tidbits with others!
Want to set foot in the nation’s oldest jail? Well, you’ll have to book a room at the posh Liberty Hotel on Beacon Hill. The jail was built on that site in 1851 to house hardened criminals including Boston Strangler Albert De Salvo.
In 1919, a freak accident sent a 2.3 million gallon, tidal wave of molasses down Commercial Avenue in Boston’s North End. Dozens were killed and they say the smell lingered for years.
If you want to browse through a collection of medical instruments, specimens and body parts, you’ll have to stop in at The Warren Anatomical Museum on Shattuck Street in Boston. Dr. John Collin Warren’s own skeleton is part of the collection.
On average, a brain a day is added to the world’s largest brain bank in Belmont. Officially, known as the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, the warehouse holds more than 4,000 brains. There, researchers study neurological disorders.
A lot of history can be learned by studying gravestones. That’s according to the Greenfield group, named The Association for Gravestone Studies. The group also offers cemetery guides and even software to record headstone details.
A solitary grave lies in Yarmouth Port. When John Hall died of smallpox in 1801, it was considered a dangerous disease and even corpses had to be kept far away. Eventually, the Kings Way Golf Club was built in the same forest.
There have been plenty of ghost sightings at Plymouth Light lighthouse. In the 1700s, Hannah was the first official lighthouse keeper after her husband died. She never left the lighthouse until her own death. Some claim her spirit is still there.
Founded in 1907, the Pine Ridge Cemetery for Small Animals in Dedham is the oldest continuously operated pet cemetery in the country. The 28-acre site is the final resting spot for over ten thousand animals including some celebrity ones!
A double-hatchet murder of Andrew and Abby Borden and the trial of their spinster daughter Lizzie is in our state’s history books. She was later acquitted. You can visit the site by booking a room at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River.
Fourteen women and five men were hanged for being witches in Salem in 1692. Salem is the place to go for Halloween fright. You can visit the Salem Witch Trials Memorial near the Charter Street Old Burying Point.
Source: “Massachusetts Curiosities: Quirky characters, roadside oddities and other offbeat stuff,” by Bruce Gellerman and Erik Sherman.
