How can it be that a house once owned by refugees from the Salem Witch trials - people who helped found the town of Framingham - can appear as one of the state's "10 Most Endangered Historic Resources?" How was it allowed to fall into such disrepair that, as the MetroWest Daily News reports, the roof is about to cave in at places and "there are areas of the house where you don't want to walk?"
As Halloween approaches, Salem cheefully exploits its grizzly past of the witch trials. Yet relatively few people know that Framingham became a refuge for innocent people falsely accused of witchcraft - a small positive in an otherwise dark chapter of American history.
The Peter and Sarah Clayes House at 657 Salem End Road could be turned into a museum, and serve as a local place to educate visitors about that part of Massachusetts history. There could be some great events there around Halloween.
Some area residents want to help save the house, and have hired an attorney to help track down ownership of the currently abandoned property, the News notes. They deserve wider community support.
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