Salem Witches Were Burned at the Stake

Of the 20 people executed during the Salem Witch Trials (1692-1693), 19 were hanged on Gallows Hill. One man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death under heavy stones for refusing to enter a plea. No one was burned. The image of witches burned at stake comes from European witch trials, not Salem, but became conflated in popular memory.