Five US Sites with Witchcraft Histories, from Hartford to the Navajo Southwest

In May 1647, Alse Young was hanged in Hartford, Connecticut, marking her as the first individual in America to be executed for witchcraft. A memorial brick honoring her can be found near the Town Hall. Connecticut executed more than a dozen individuals, including Mary Johnson in 1648 and John and Joan Carrington in 1651. In 2017, the town council cleared Young and Lydia Gilbert of wrongdoing, and in 2023, state legislators declared all colonial witchcraft convictions as unjust. Only two records of Young remain. Between 1692 and 1693, Salem, Massachusetts, witnessed over 200 accusations and 20 executions. Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana is tied to the tale of Chloe, while Galena, Illinois, features the Ably House, linked to a suicide. Navajo culture speaks of skinwalkers, and Utah's Skinwalker Ranch attracted interest in the mid-1990s.