Early Gravestones at the Old North Burying Ground

The Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich, Massachusetts, was established in 1634 upon the founding of the town and is one of the oldest cemeteries in North America, located at the intersection of High Street and Rt 133/1A. View the location on Google Maps. Many of these gravestones were restored by Epoch Preservation.

The unique northern Essex County “soul effigy” style of John Hartshorne and the Leighton family of Rowley features primitive round faces, whorls, rosettes, and wavelike patterns. At the same time, death’s heads and three-dimensional ornamentation were more common with carvers from the Boston area.

• View the Alphabetical index of graves at the Old North Burying Ground.

This page features a sampling of the oldest gravestones in alphabetical order, including the mysterious E.L. stone dated 1647, and the gravestones of the Hart family beginning in the 1670s.

The numbers before the names in the photos below indicate the locations on the maps of the Burying Ground: map_key; a-b-map; c-d-map; e_map; f-g_map.

Click on any image to make it larger and start the slideshow. Click on the X in the upper right corner of any photo to return to this gallery.