Burial Hill is a historic cemetery or burying ground on School Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Established in the 17th century, it is the burial site of several Pilgrims, the founding settlers of

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2013.

Description

Burial Hill is located just west of Plymouth's Main Street, which parallels the shoreline of Plymouth Bay, and is at the southwest end of Leyden Street, which parallels Town Brook to the south, and was the first street laid out when the Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620. The hill rises above sea level, and provides commanding views over the surrounding landscape and coastline. The main entrance to the cemetery is just north of the First Parish Church in Plymouth, whose current building is the fifth to stand on the same site. A network of paved footpaths are laid out through the cemetery's , with stairs located along steeper sections. There are more than 2,000 marked graves, dating from 1680 to 1957.

History

The first Pilgrim burial ground was on nearby

Cole's Hill Cole's Hill is a National Historic Landmark containing the first cemetery used by the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The hill is located on Carver Street near the foot of Leyden Street and across the street from Ply ...

in 1620-21. Originally, the Pilgrims constructed a fort on top of Burial Hill in 1621-22 (a reconstruction exists in nearby

Plimoth Plantation Plimoth Patuxet is a complex of living history museums in Plymouth, Massachusetts, founded in 1947. Formerly Plimoth Plantation, it replicates the original settlement of the Plymouth Colony established in the 17th century by the English coloni ...

).Frank Herman Perkins
Handbook of old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its history, its famous dead, and its quaint epitaphs
(A.S. Burbank, 1896), pg. 8-10 The Burial Hill fort also served as a meeting house for the colony and for the First Parish Church until 1677. According to tradition, the first grave on Burial Hill was Pilgrim

John Howland John Howland (February 23, 1673) accompanied the English Separatists and other passengers when they left England on the to settle in Plymouth Colony. He was an indentured servant and in later years an executive assistant and personal secretary ...

's. However, he did not die until 1672; other people claimed to be buried there died considerably earlier. First Parish's congregation currently meets in an 1899 church building at the base of Burial Hill on the town square, near where it first met in 1621.Frank Herman Perkins
Handbook of old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its history, its famous dead, and its quaint epitaphs
(A.S. Burbank, 1896), pg. 7

Notable burials and cenotaphs

* Mary Allerton, Pilgrim, last surviving ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

'' passenger * William Bradford, Pilgrim, Governor * William Brewster, church elder * Thomas Cushman, Ruling Elder of the Plymouth Colony, 1649-1691 *

Robert Cushman Robert Cushman (1577–1625) was an important leader and organiser of the ''Mayflower'' voyage in 1620, serving as Chief Agent in London for the Leiden Separatist contingent from 1617 to 1620 and later for Plymouth Colony until his death in 1625 ...

, organizer of the Mayflower expedition (cenotaph at Cushman Monument) *

Edward Doty Edward Doty (August 23, 1655) was a passenger on the 1620 voyage of the ''Mayflower'' to North America; he was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact. Early life Doty came from England, but from where in England is currently unknown. A po ...

, ''Mayflower'' passenger *

Francis Cooke Francis Cooke (c.1583 – April 7, 1663) was a Leiden Separatist, who went to America in 1620 on the Pilgrim ship ''Mayflower'', which arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was a founding member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and a signer of ...

, Pilgrim, ''Mayflower'' passenger *

, Pilgrim, ''Mayflower'' passenger * Adoniram Judson, Christian missionary to Asia *

Thomas Prence Thomas Prence (c. 1601 – March 29, 1673) was a New England colonist who arrived in the colony of Plymouth Colony, Plymouth in November 1621 on the ship ''Fortune''. In 1644 he moved to Massachusetts Bay Colony, Eastham, which he helped found, re ...

, Colonial Governor * Zabdiel Sampson, Congressman * James Warren, Patriot leader *

Mercy Otis Warren Mercy Otis Warren (September 14, eptember 25, New Style1728 – October 19, 1814) was an American activist poet, playwright, and pamphleteer during the American Revolution. During the years before the Revolution, she had published poems and pla ...

, author *

Richard Warren Richard Warren (c. 1585c.1628) was one of the passengers on the Pilgrim ship ''Mayflower'' and a signer of the Mayflower Compact. Early life Richard Warren married Elizabeth Walker, at Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, on 14 April 1610. Elizabe ...

, Pilgrim, ''Mayflower'' passenger *Elizabeth Walker Warren, Pilgrim, ''Anne'' passenger *

Squanto Tisquantum (; 1585 (±10 years?) – late November 1622 O.S.), more commonly known as Squanto Sam (), was a member of the Patuxet tribe best known for being an early liaison between the Native American population in Southern New England and ...

Native American Friend of The Pilgrims

Image gallery

File:John Howland Grave in Plymouth MA.jpg,

's grave File:William Harlow House in Plymouth MA.jpg,

Harlow Old Fort House The Harlow Old Fort House is a First Period historic house at 119 Sandwich Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts. History According to legend, Sergeant William Harlow built the house in 1677 using timbers from the Pilgrims' original fort on Buria ...

in Plymouth made of timbers from the Burial Hill Fort File:Burial Hill Fort in Plymouth MA.jpg, Burial Hill Fort, housed the original church in Plymouth File:First Parish Church in Plymouth MA.jpg, First Parish Church in Plymouth (now Unitarian Universalist) at the base of Burial Hill, is a continuation of the original Pilgrim church File:First Parish Church in Plymouth Mass.jpg, First Parish Church in Plymouth File:Site of First Fort and Meeting House on Burial Hill in Plymouth.jpg, Site of 1621 First Fort and Meeting House on Burial Hill File:Burial Hill in Plymouth Massachusetts.jpg, Burial Hill, cemetery entrance File:Plimoth Plantation fort and meeting house.jpg, recreation of original Burial Hill fort/meeting house at

File:Map of early Plymouth MA home lots.png, Map of early Plymouth home lots File:2015-07-16 040 Plymouth MA.jpg, Powder House, 2015 File:2015-07-16 032 Plymouth MA.jpg, Edward Gray Grave, 2015 File:2015-07-16 031 Plymouth MA.jpg, Memorial to the children of John and Elizabeth Howland, 2015 File:William Crowe Grave Plymouth MA.jpg, William Crowe Grave, 2015

References

External links