Charter Street Cemetery
| Location | Essex, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42.5204, -70.8922 |
| Access | Public - restored and reopened, please stay on the paths |
The burial ground now called Charter Street Cemetery was already part of Salem’s town landscape when a 1637 record referred to a “buryall place.” That early written reference makes it the oldest European burial ground in Salem, though Indigenous burials in the area long predate colonial settlement. The cemetery grew with the town, receiving merchants, ministers, officials, and people whose names survive only in fragments.
The rest of this file is sealed. 3 more sections: what happened next, what people still report, and how to visit.
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