Old North Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Maplewood Avenue in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on ...
. It is a roughly parcel of land north of the city center on the shore of North Mill Pond. Its earliest burials are dated to 1751, although it was not formally established as a cemetery until 1753. It is the largest of the city's 18th century cemeteries, and is remarkable for the relatively distant locations some of the stonecarvers came from whose work appears in it.
The cemetery was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1978.
Setting
Old North Cemetery is located north of downtown Portsmouth, on the southwest side of Maplewood Avenue. It is bounded on the southeast by a railroad yard, and the northwest by Union Cemetery. To the west it borders a portion of the North Mill Pond. This setting is in stark contrast to its historical surroundings. At the time of its founding, it was essentially laid out on a peninsula, and the pond was more of a tidal inlet of the
Piscataqua River
The Piscataqua River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River to the Atlant ...
. Its present surroundings are the result of intensive development and redevelopment in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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Description
The cemetery is in a nearly rectangular irregular shape, about in size. The land slopes down toward the water, and has a number of hillocks, most of which are topped by graves. It is separated from Union Cemetery by a row of trees, and from the railroad yard by a chain link fence. A low retaining wall separates it from Maplewood Avenue.[
]
History
The site was first used as a cemetery in 1751, and was formally acquired by the city in 1753. It was not its first cemetery, which was located near present-day Mechanic Street. It is the largest of those laid out in the 18th century, built to address increased demand in the growing community. It soon became a favored burying ground, and a number of locally and nationally prominent figures are interred there.[
]
Notable burials
*Dr. Ammi Ruhamah Cutter (1735–1820), Physician General of the Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
* John Langdon,Woodbury Langdon
Woodbury Langdon (1739 – January 13, 1805) was an American merchant, politician and justice from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was the brother of John Langdon, a Founding Father who served as both senator from and Governor of New Hampshire, a ...
,[ merchant, delegate from New Hampshire to ]Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...
, New Hampshire Superior Court justice, brother of John Langdon
*Prince Whipple
Prince Whipple (c. 1750–1796) was an African American slave and later freedman. He was a soldier and a bodyguard during the American Revolution under his slaveowner General William Whipple of the New Hampshire Militia who formally manumitted hi ...
,[ slave, freed by William Whipple in 1781
*]William Whipple
William Whipple Jr. (January 25, 1731 NS OS/nowiki> – November 28, 1785) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States">Founding Father and signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence. He represented New Hampshir ...
, signer of U.S. Declaration of Independence, brigadier general in New Hampshire Militia[
]
See also
*
References
{{NRHP in Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire
Buildings and structures in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
National Register of Historic Places in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
1753 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies
Cemeteries established in the 18th century