Lyceum Hall
Spiritual remnants of the Salem Witch Trials may linger in this popular seafood restaurant
Paranormal Claims at
Lyceum Hall
- The strange smell of apples is reported throughout the building
- Objects are moved around rooms and tossed off of shelves by unseen forces
- Shadow figures are sometimes spotted
- A woman’s apparition is seen on the stairs and in mirrors
- Unseen hands reach out and grab employees and patrons
- Unexplained electrical malfunctions are reported in the building
A Salem Landmark:
History of Lyceum Hall
In Salem, Massachusetts, there are endless reminders of the town’s history of witchcraft. You can find the Salem Witch House, the Witch Dungeon Museum, the Salem Witch Museum, and the Salem Witch Trials Memorial all close by each other. But, nestled neatly in the middle of these different landmarks is a haunted piece of history, hidden in plain sight.
Lyceum Hall, currently home to Turner’s Seafood, has been a beloved fixture of Church Street since the 1830s.
Long before the building existed, the property was home to an apple orchard owned by Bridget Bishop, a persecuted victim of the Salem Witch Trials.
Now, over three hundred years later, Bishop’s phantom may haunt the restaurant on her former property. And she might not be the only spirit who still lingers at Lyceum Hall.
Timeline of Lyceum Hall's History
Swipe or use timeline points to see Lyceum Hall through the years
1692
In late 1600s Salem, the future home of the local Lyceum Hall was a spacious apple orchard owned by Bridget Bishop. In 1692, Bishop was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials, and would end up being the first person to be executed. In the years following the trials, Bishop’s old orchard faded from the history books and the land was parceled out as Salem expanded.
Over a century after the witch trials, in the early 1800s, development boomed over the forgotten orchard land.
1830
In 1830, locals formed the Salem Lyceum Society, a social organization that hosted educational and entertaining lectures and other programs. In 1831, the society purchased a large section of Bridget Bishop’s former orchard and built a large brick building on it, Lyceum Hall. The society quickly put their new meeting hall to use hosting lectures from some of the biggest names of the era.
It wasn’t long before the Salem Lyceum Society was the largest such society in the state. And their grand building was a big reason why.
1877
While the Lyceum Hall had no shortage of well-known visitors in its first few decades, the building had a true brush with world history in 1877. That year, the hall hosted a special program by Alexander Graham Bell, who was showing off his brand new invention: the telephone.
During his demonstration at the Lyceum Hall, Alexander Graham Bell made the first ‘long distance’ phone call in world history, phoning his assistant in Boston. The lecture proved a major success, and helped quicken the telephone’s rising popularity.
1898
Though the Salem Lyceum Society disbanded in 1898, their expansive meeting hall remained a staple of Salem’s Church Street. But, few other organizations needed such a large building, and so the structure was soon renovated into separate businesses. In 1935, Salem’s Lyceum Hall greeted its very first restaurant, the Colonial Cafe.
This would prove to be the beginning of a long culinary tradition within the Lyceum’s walls. In the early 1970s, new owners restored the building and reopened it as The Lyceum Restaurant.
2013
From the 1970s through to the 2010s, several ownership and name changes came to the restaurant. Most recently, in 2013, the building became home to Turner’s Seafood. It has operated as Turner’s ever since, but maintains much of its historic charm, complete with a few supposed phantoms.
And while Salem is home to countless ghostly legends, local stories say that the old Lyceum Hall is one of the most haunted places in America’s spookiest city.
Is Lyceum Hall Haunted?
One of the old Lyceum Hall’s most well-known ghosts is Bridget Bishop herself. Given that the Lyceum’s property was once Bishop’s orchard, it makes sense that her spirit continues to haunt the building.
Sightings of Bishop’s vivid apparition are some of the more notable reports in the building.
While portraits of Bishop are hard to come by, witnesses to the Lyceum’s apparitions say the figures match Bishop’s description and past depictions.
Even when she doesn’t appear in the building, there may be signs of Bishop’s phantom lingering. A common claim inside Turner’s today is that the smell of apples will appear out of nowhere—the scent of Bridget’s long lost orchard.
Spirits on the Staircase
While Bridget Bishop’s ghost is one of the more regularly mentioned phantoms at the Lyceum, she may not be the only one haunting the building.
Many visitors and workers purportedly encounter a mysterious woman’s figure lingering on the building’s stairs. Her specter is said to be best identified by the old style white dress she is wearing.
Along with manifesting on the Lyceum’s stairs, this woman’s white figure is also spotted in mirrors around the restaurant. Some witnesses suggest this spirit is Bridget Bishop as well, while others aren’t so sure.
Aside from the lady in the white dress, featureless shadow figures can also purportedly be seen darting around the Lyceum Hall’s restaurant spaces.
Ghosts Throw Objects and Grab Visitors
Poltergeist-like activity is said to be a regular occurrence in the Lyceum Hall’s stock rooms and storage areas. Employees will often claim to find objects and boxes knocked off of shelves. Some even report witnessing objects get tossed off the shelves with their own eyes.
Other employees and visitors occasionally report being touched or grabbed by unseen hands.
The Lyceum’s Electrical Oddities
Electrical malfunctions are another strangely common happening around Salem’s Lyceum Hall.
Lights throughout the restaurant are known for flipping on and off by themselves at all hours of the day. Additionally, the building’s cash registers are said to sometimes operate on their own, opening the drawer and printing receipts.
The Ghostly Terrors at Turner’s
Today, as Turner’s Seafood, Lyceum Hall continues to be a popular spot for Salem locals and tourists. While it no longer hosts lecturers or inventors, the Lyceum Hall remains a treasured landmark in one of New England’s oldest towns.
Just like any other place in Salem, the ghost stories have become part of Lyceum Hall’s unique charm.
The restaurant’s busy schedule doesn’t allow for many tours or formal ghost hunt offerings. But, many of the building’s ghost stories come from restaurant patrons who simply came in for some fish and got some phantoms on the side.
So stop in if you’re in Salem, and watch out for Bridget Bishop’s apparition, or at least the scent of apples hanging in the air. Bridget’s old property may be long gone, but Salem’s Lyceum Hall may always be an orchard of oddities.
