Phipps Street Burying Ground
Encyclopedia
Phipps Street Burying Ground is a historic cemetery
on Phipps Street in Charlestown, Massachusetts
, a neighborhood of Boston
.
The burial ground was created in 1630, the first cemetery in Boston. The "Charlestown Carver", an anonymous stone cutter active in the 1660s, began an important regional style that was continued by the Lamson family for many generations.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1974.
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
on Phipps Street in Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874...
, a neighborhood of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
.
The burial ground was created in 1630, the first cemetery in Boston. The "Charlestown Carver", an anonymous stone cutter active in the 1660s, began an important regional style that was continued by the Lamson family for many generations.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1974.
Interments
Since it was the only cemetery in town, it had a wide range of class and situation:- Prince Bradstreet, "an honest man of color"
- Benjamin GorhamBenjamin GorhamBenjamin Gorham was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.He was the son of Nathaniel Gorham, who served as one of the Presidents of the Continental Congress. Benjamin was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He pursued preparatory studies, graduated from Harvard University in 1795, and studied...
, Congressman 1820-23, 1827-31, 1833-35 - Nathaniel GorhamNathaniel GorhamNathaniel Gorham was the fourteenth President of the United States in Congress assembled, under the Articles of Confederation...
, president of the Continental CongressContinental CongressThe Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution.... - John HarvardJohn Harvard (clergyman)John Harvard was an English minister in America whose deathbed bequest to the Massachusetts Bay Colony's fledgling New College was so gratefully received that the school was renamed Harvard College in his honor.-Biography:Harvard was born and raised in Southwark, England, the fourth of nine...
, for whom Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
is named