VIDEO: Salem Museum Brings Witch City Stories to Life

The Salem Museum held a preliminary opening Thursday evening in the .

Residents and history enthusiasts gathered to preview exhibits and hear from those who have been working to bring the past to life.

The effort, headed by Wenham's Gordon College, which manages Salem's Old Town Hall, has been a two-year collaborative effort between historians and designers.

"It's a culmination of a lot of work," said Gordon College's Dean of Global Education Clifford Hersey. "We want to make it as accessible as is possible for the community to walk through 400 years of history and then go from here to so many other wonderful museums and places around town."

Also speaking at the event were K. David Goss, museum project director and assistant professor of history at Gordon College, Curator Mary-Ellen Smiley and designers Ken Harris and Debra Glabeau of Great Island Design.

Mayor Kimberley Driscoll also attended the event.

Harris said the museum is working to develop an online community to provide a forum where people can readily share their Salem stories.

The museum is slated to open officially on June 11.

Check out our video for a sneak peek at the Witch City's newest museum.