Salem limits access to cemetery with ties to witch trials

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — The city of Salem, Massachusetts, is limiting the number of people who will be allowed inside a historic cemetery with a direct link to the 1692 witch trials as Halloween approaches.

The Salem News reports that on Saturdays and Sundays during October and on Halloween night, no more than 100 people will be permitted inside the Charter Street Burial Ground at any one time. The entrance will be monitored.

The city started limiting access to the cemetery last year after large crowds were seen sitting, eating and even changing diapers on the tombs.

The cemetery, established in 1637, is the burial site of John Hathorne and Bartholomew Gedney, two judges who presided over the witch trials.