Cue the eery music and fog machine.
Ever wonder what stories and tales lurk beyond the gates of Dorchester North Burying Ground? Now is your chance to roam inside the cemetery and learn about its history. The Burial Ground will be open on Sunday, October 20th, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m, and the Boston Preservation Alliance and Comfort Kitchen have partnered for a special event!
Join the Boston Preservation Alliance afterward at the Preservation Award-winning Comfort Kitchen for light bites supplied by Comfort Kitchen, spooky cocktails (NA options, beer, and wine also available for purchase), and conversation.
Comfort Kitchen is the perfect setting for a post-cemetery tour, as it rests entirely within the boundaries of the 1634 burial ground!
You can register here!
Now for the history via Boston Preservation Alliance:
It is the earliest surviving Landmark in Dorchester and includes some of Boston’s most prominent founding citizens, including minister Richard Mather and the first printer in Boston, John Foster. It also includes Governor William Stoughton, the Chief Justice during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. It is Stoughton who sentenced 19 people to their deaths.
Ann, Cambridge, and Betty are also buried here. Each is marked with a slate stone. They were enslaved by Dorchester resident, Robert Oliver, a member of the Royall family. The largest monument in the cemetery was made for the Oliver and Royall Tomb.
Rich and important history can be gleaned from visiting our historic cemeteries. Dorchester North displays 400 years of funerary sculpture. For the first two hundred years of its existence, Dorchester North functioned without embellishment of trees or floral arrangements. In 1834, Samuel Downer, (of Downer Ave fame) who participated in creating Mount Auburn Cemetery, designed the landscaping for this cemetery. He created a system of pathways and avenues named after prominent Dorchester families. Over 400 shade trees and rare specimen trees were planted and a large number of shrubs and floral displays were also set out. Downer’s efforts resulted in an arboretum-like atmosphere in this burying ground.
Maureen Dahill is the editor of Caught in Southie and a lifelong resident of South Boston sometimes mistaken for a yuppie. Co-host of Caught Up, storyteller, lover of red wine and binge watching TV series. Mrs. Peter G. Follow her @MaureenCaught.