King's Chapel Burying Ground

King's Chapel Burying Ground
King's Chapel burial ground, looking east from near the gate
Location Tremont and School Streets, Boston, MA
Coordinates 42°21′29.7″N 71°3′35.4″W / 42.358250°N 71.059833°W / 42.358250; -71.059833Coordinates: 42°21′29.7″N 71°3′35.4″W / 42.358250°N 71.059833°W / 42.358250; -71.059833
Built 1630
Significant dates
Added to NRHP May 2, 1974
Designated CP October 9, 1960
King's Chapel and Burying Ground, 1833

King's Chapel Burying Ground is an historic cemetery on Tremont Street, near its intersection with School Street, in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest cemetery in the city and is a site on the Freedom Trail. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Despite its name, the cemetery pre-dates the adjacent King's Chapel; it is not affiliated to that or any other church.[1]

King's Chapel Burying Ground was founded in 1630 as the first cemetery in the city of Boston. According to custom, the first interment was that of the land's original owner, Isaac Johnson. It was Boston's only burial site for 30 years (1630–1660). After being unable to locate land elsewhere, in 1686 the local Anglican congregation was allotted land in the cemetery to build King's Chapel.

Today there are 505 headstones and 59 footstones remaining from the more than one thousand people buried in the small space since its inception. There are also 78 tombs, of which 36 have markers. This includes the large vault, built as a charnel house, which was converted into a tomb for children's remains in 1833. The earliest tombs are scattered among the grave markers. Most are in tabletop form.[1]

Notable burials

References

  1. 1 2 Boston Parks and Recreation
  2. ↑ Foote. Annals of King's Chapel. Boston: Little, Brown, 1896.
  3. ↑ The Clapp Memorial: Record of the Clapp Family in America, Ebenezer Clapp, David Clapp & Son, Boston, 1876
  4. ↑ Fletcher, Ron (2005-02-25). "Who's buried in Dawes's tomb?". Boston Globe.
  5. ↑ Snow, Edward Rowe. Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast. Boston: Yankee Publishing Co., 1944.
  6. ↑ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. LXIV, The New England Historic Genealogical Society, Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, Published by the Society, Boston, 1910
  7. ↑ Dr. Starr's daughter Hannah was the wife of John Cutt, the first President of the Province of New Hampshire.

See also

Preceded by
King's Chapel		 Locations along Boston's Freedom Trail
King's Chapel Burying Ground		 Succeeded by
site of the first public school, Boston Latin School
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.