Tag: gravestone art

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Old Burying Place, Plympton, MA

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The Old Cemetery in Plympton stretches along Route 58 in the center of town. The oldest gravestone is from 1707, although it is probably that several older burials are here, because there was settlement in the western part of Plymouth (which became Plympton) at least in the late 1600s. The left side of the cemetery is called Hillcrest Cemetery and it is separated by the main cemetery road. The right side is the much older cemetery, overwhelmingly made of slate stones, most of which are suffering the fate of time. Many stones have sunk into the ground, or split in … Continue reading Old Burying Place, Plympton, MA

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Thomastown Cemetery, Middleborough, MA

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3/27/06 The Thomastown Cemetery was formed in 1806. It lies on Purchase Street, near the border of Carver, and is long and rectangular in shape, with a chain-link fence surrounding it. The cemetery is still in use, and has a wide variety of shapes and sizes for the monuments. The visit was in part to seek further for the Middleboro Ramsdells, to no success. However, it did boast several stones with one of my favorite symbols: There are several versions of this symbol, but the most heavy-handed of them always make me smile. The finger pointing above is fairly blunt … Continue reading Thomastown Cemetery, Middleborough, MA

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Hope Cemetery, Barre, Vermont

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Opened in 1896, this magnificent cemetery is not only a resting place for the dead, but also a showcase of stunning sculpture and art. There are countless websites filled with great photographs of the gravestones. Here’s a good one, and here’s the official site. With granite quarries close by, Barre became a bustling town of immigrants, especially Italian stoneworkers. It is this unique population that led to such a wondrous cemetery – the gravestones here are often beautiful, and sometimes humorous, sculptures. Soccer balls, cars, lumber trucks, airplanes, as well as lifesize sculptures of the deceased (often-times the carver himself!) … Continue reading Hope Cemetery, Barre, Vermont

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Lakenham Cemetery, Carver, MA

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The oldest stone from Lakenham Cemetery is 1718. Although Carver is right next to Plymouth, it was not widely settled into later years of Plymouth Colony. Very marshy, it now serves as a vast harvest of cranberry bogs. Back then, its marshes were appreciated, enough so to be purchased in large plots by Plymouth families, but for the most part they kept their live-in residences within Plymouth limits. Being bordered closely to Plympton, Lakenham Cemetery also contains a large number of stones carved by Ebenezer Soule (of Plympton) and his sons in the 1700s. The Medusa heads in various forms … Continue reading Lakenham Cemetery, Carver, MA

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Vernon St. Cemetery (Alden Cemetery), Bridgewater, MA

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The Alden Cemetery on Vernon Street is Bridgewater’s second oldest cemetery, although the majority of stones from the 1700s are unmarked. Most of the gravestones, therefore, are from the 19th century. Latham’s book provides an incredible view into what the land must have been like at the time. Located in Titicut, a former Native American settlement, Bethia Fobes was the first white child born in this area. With just a few houses far and few between, the land where the cemetery is must have filled very slowly at first, for it was not physically close to many settlers in the … Continue reading Vernon St. Cemetery (Alden Cemetery), Bridgewater, MA