The Phipps Street Burial Ground
One of the city's oldest burial grounds, it features memorials to several of the owning class settlers of the Boston area.
The Phipps Street Burial Ground is the oldest cemetery in Charlestown and is one of Boston's seven burying grounds that date back to the 17th Century.
There are 1,549 gravestones, tombs and monuments, all arranged in irregular sections and family plots. Some say family grave stones were grouped on the part of the hill which faced the original family home.
After the burning of Charlestown in 1775, stones were rearranged and new paths were laid out. Fortunately, the burial ground resisted a 19th Century "beautification" plan to straighten all stones into neat rows.
The burial ground was named after Solomon Phipps, a Charlestown farmer and land owner. Phipps was born in England in 1619 and settled in Charlestown in 1642. He raised cattle on the hill. He and his wife Elizabeth Wood had nine children. Phipps died in 1671.
The most prominent memorial in the burial ground is to John Harvard, who died in 1638. The 15-foot obelisk, designed by Solomon Willard, who also designed the Bunker Hill Monument, was erected in 1828. Harvard’s original marker is gone so that the exact location of his grave site is unknown.
The oldest stones, for the most part, have only the name, age and date of death. There are markers for Ebenezer Breed and stones for the Bunker family. Rebecca Thoreau, grandmother of Henry David Thoreau, is buried here, as well as Nathaniel Gorham, a signer of the Constitution, president of the Continental Congress and one-time owner of outdoor rope walks in Charlestown.
An unidentified "Charlestown Carver" carved a large number of the head stones in the Phipps ground, mostly of slate, marble sandstone, basalt and granite. At the Museum of Fine Arts, in the New American Wing, is a small exhibit about the "Charlestown Carver." Go to Gallery LG36 and ask to see the footstone of John Foster.
- Where is it?
Phipps Street and Lawrence Street
- When was it designated?
Between 1630 and 1640
- Who built it?
The founders of Charlestown designated the land as the town’s burying place.
- What was it built for and who was the first deceased buried there? As burial ground. Earliest gravestone is for Maud Russell, dated 1652.
- Why was it built?
There was no designated burial spot for residents. Before Phipps Burial Ground Charlestown residents were probably buried near a marketplace in the town.
- How was it built? On a rising knoll known as Burial Hill, originally bordered by marsh. The Charles River washed up on the rear side of the hill.
- What are the future plans for the structure?
The 76,740 square foot Phipps Street Burying Ground is permanently locked and only opened on request. The City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department maintains the grounds. The Charlestown Preservation Society annually sponsors a clean-up day in May during Preservation Month and welcomes vounteers to visit this extraordinary cultural treasure.
Information for this article was compiled from Report of the Historic Burial Grounds Inventory Project, sponsored by a grant from the Charlestown Preservation Society www.charlestownpreservation.org; various web sites, including www.cityofboston.gov.
edward ONeil
12:42 pm on Monday, February 21, 2011
Well done.
Mary Aylward Stewart
2:11 pm on Monday, February 21, 2011
Interesting piece of history. You do nice work.
Is clean-up day in May the only time the burial grounds are open to the public? Or is it open to volunteer workers only?
Helen O'Neil
3:44 pm on Monday, February 21, 2011
According to CityofBoston.gov the Phipps Street Burial Ground can be opened to visitors but with 24 hours notice. From the website: To request an opening please call the Cemetery Division at Mt Hope Cemetery, tel. (617) 635-7361. Please note burying grounds cannot be opened on Sundays.
It sounds like a really rich activity, to check out this unique place. How lucky we are in Charlestown to have such a treasure, so close by.
Helen O'Neil
5:32 pm on Monday, February 21, 2011
Another e-mail from an out-of-state Townie: "How long did I live in Charlestown never knowing the history of the Phipps Graveyard?"
Larry Rinaldi
11:55 am on Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The graveyard has one hundred stones prior to 1700. The most artistic, gravestone is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Under the tree, you will find a stone of a African slave. A young boy visited the graveyard when water lapped up on its shores and drowned at the site. The heraldic stones are marvelous. John Harvard's grave was in the graveyard at the site which is now the John Harvard Mall near City Square. The memorial marker was put up by Harvard College students in 1835. The Phipps street graveyard has had much abuse over the years but residents have tried to keep the place clean.
Helen O'Neil
10:08 pm on Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thank you for adding to our knowledge of the graveyard.
John Goggin
7:26 pm on Tuesday, February 22, 2011
I live on Phipps st facing the graveyard in the spring and the summer a lot of people from all over come too the grave yard and its locked so how is a vistor suppose too know that they are suppse too call he city it should be ope from like 9 am too 5pm
of course the city will not open it i have talked too our mr Kelly a few times on this but i do not blame hime but he cannot get it open
Helen O'Neil
7:01 pm on Wednesday, February 23, 2011
John,
Thank you for comment. It's sad to know tourists go out of their way to come over here and then can't get into the graveyard. Too bad there couldn't be a groundskeeper. Any body have any ideas? Especially for the summer months.
Ann Hannan
2:34 pm on Wednesday, February 23, 2011
My 91 year old mother talks about a first memory in the 1950's of the graveyard as "trashed and not cared for at all." Isn't it so wonderful that the spot is reclaimed for the treasure that is. How exciting also to imagine how the thread of Henry Thoreau's mother Rebecca Thoreau weaves through Charlestown as a resting place - "claiming" her place in history! Do you know who Maud Russell is? Is herstory preserved - other than the first to be buried there?
Helen O'Neil
10:06 pm on Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Maude Russell, according to a genealogy website (http://www.gravesfa.org/gen028.htm), was 'married to the Honorable Richard Russell. They had eleven children. Her daughter Elizabeth married Nathaniel Graves, a member of the Colonial Military Service who was baptized at the First Church of Charlestown. He died at sea.'
Ann Hannan
10:33 am on Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thank you!! Very interesting.
Helen O'Neil
5:36 pm on Tuesday, March 15, 2011
A question via e-mail about the Phipps Burial Ground :
'Looking for the Pratt family Phinehas and Mary or the children of them. They are my 9th great grandparent. Wonder if they are there. Will be in the area April 7th. Thank you for any info you might have.'
Helen O'Neil
11:14 pm on Wednesday, May 25, 2011
An e-mail came a while back asking about members of the Pratt family buried in the Phipps Burial Ground. The e-mail address was insufficient so was not able to respond. Have located Phineas Pratt, died 4/19/1680, Location 31-39; Ma Pratt, died 8/8/1801 Location 7C-91; Abigail Pratt died 1806 Location 5Q-30.
Helen O'Neil
10:39 pm on Sunday, April 3, 2011
An informative e-mail from PATCH reader Carl Zellner about the 'unidentified Charlestown carver' : 'He may not be unknown. An extensive article in the January 1927 edition of "Old-Time New England," published by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, identified Joseph Lamson (1658-1722) of Charlestown as being the most prolific and talented gravestone carver of his time, a talent and occupation he passed down to two sons, Nathaniel and Caleb.' Thank you Carl for adding to our knowledge of Phipps Burial Ground.
Glenn Knoblock
1:24 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
The Lamson family of gravestone carvers were prominent not just in Charlestown, but their works are found throughout New England. However, the man in question who carved the earliest stones in the Phipps Burial Ground, known as "the Old Stonecutter of Boston", was not Joseph Lamson, but his predecessor in the area. He is known as the Old Stonecutter because he is so identified in probate records, an indicator that he had long worked as a carver.
Helen O'Neil
8:00 pm on Friday, May 13, 2011
Thank you Gregg. There seems to be some uncertainty as to this carver's 'real' identity. Can you offer a source of reference? I'm sure many of our local historians would love to know more.
Helen O'Neil
8:25 am on Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Can any reader answer this question that came via e-mail: "I am curious as to the reason there is no date of death or age in years on some of the grave stones --was the person too poor?"