The Old North Cemetery is a cemetery on Main Street in the Clay-Arsenal neighborhood north of downtown

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. It was established in 1807, and was the city's second municipal cemetery. It was the principal burying ground for the city's elites for many years, and has a fine collection of 19th-century funerary art. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. Although burials continue to take place there occasionally, they only take place on existing plots.

Description and history

Hartford's first cemetery, the

Ancient Burying Ground The Ancient Burying Ground (or Phinney's Lane Cemetery) is a historical cemetery at Phinney's Lane in Barnstable, Massachusetts. It is the oldest cemetery in the village of Centerville, and the only surviving civic element of its colonial or ...

, was established in 1640. By the early 19th century it was filling up, so the city purchased of land north of the downtown from farmer Hezekiah Bull for the creation of this cemetery. This purchase was incremented by others in the 19th century, until the cemetery reached its present size of . Significant burial plots in the cemetery include this of the

Colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: * Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People *Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places * Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United State ...

and Goodwin families, both prominent in the civic and business leadership of the city. The Weld Monument is a memorial to two brothers, Charles and Lewis Weld, who were soldiers in the American Civil War; Lewis in particular is noted for his leadership of the

41st United States Colored Infantry The 41st United States Colored Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was composed almost entirely of African American enlisted men and commanded by white officers. The regiment ...

. A number of the monuments were prepared by the stone cutting firm of

James G. Batterson James Goodwin Batterson (February 23, 1823 – September 18, 1901) was an American designer and builder, the owner of New England Granite Works from 1845 and a founder in 1863 of Travelers Insurance Company, both in Hartford, Connecticut. He ...

, who is best known for supplying stone for the Connecticut State Capitol. The cemetery is located on the west side of Main Street, and is roughly rectangular in shape, except for a cutout where the Union Baptist Church is located. Its Main Street boundary is lined by a metal picket fence, with the main entrance marked by a pair of brick piers. Adjacent to the entrance is a small brick office, a Queen Anne style structure with a combination of Renaissance and Classical Revival styles. These elements were probably added around 1890. A series of roadways provide a roughly rectangular circulation pattern through the cemetery grounds. The northwestern section of the grounds contain concentrated groups of Jewish and Italian graves.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Queen Anne architecture in Connecticut Buildings and structures in Hartford, Connecticut Cemeteries in Hartford County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut Buildings and structures completed in 1807

Description and history

See also

References