Old Burial Hill

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

Old Burial Hill is a historic cemetery district on Church, School and South Russell Streets in Plymouth, covering 5.12 acres. It was listed in the National Register in 2013.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A, C and D, including a cemetery exception under Criteria Consideration D, with significance in art, exploration and settlement, landscape architecture and social history at the national, state and local levels. Its period of significance runs from 1620, when the Pilgrims built a fort there, to 1957, the year of the last burial.

Physical character

Gravestones of slate, granite, sandstone and marble stand here, some in granite-faced or brick-faced tombs, with granite curbing, iron and wooden fences, and linden and beech trees bordering the grounds. A brick powderhouse built in 1770 was replaced in 1920 by a second one Burton Wiggin built on the same site, a brick watchtower from 1643 stands near the old fort, and new entrance gates and steps, designed by Ernest W. Bowditch, went up in the 1890s.

Historical context

The hilltop held a Pilgrim fort from 1620 until 1676, and served as a burial ground until 1957. Monuments erected later name individual burials, including William Bradford in 1835, John Howland in 1897, James Warren in 1923 and Scammell in 1926, while an 1897 bequest from J. H. Stickney of $10,000 paid for grounds improvements and a 1950s effort worked to preserve the headstones.