The Old North Cemetery is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

on Main Street in the Clay-Arsenal neighborhood north of downtown

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. 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 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 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, 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 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 The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

; Lewis in particular is noted for his leadership of the 41st United States Colored Infantry. A number of the monuments were prepared by the stone cutting firm of James G. Batterson, who is best known for supplying stone for the

Connecticut State Capitol The Connecticut State Capitol is located north of Capitol Avenue and south of Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. The building houses the Connecticut General Assembly; the upper house, the Connecticut Sen ...

. 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