Old Burying Point is the second oldest cemetery in the United States! It was established in 1637, which is just crazy to think about. One of the things we were looking forward to on our New England trip was seeing some of these old gravestones. Even they couldn't stop me! Old Burying Point is in the same area as the other "witch" attractions in Salem. That whole area was very walkable, which is nice because parking was almost impossible to find! At least, places where you could park for more than 2 hours.
My favorite thing is these kinds of stones! That skull and wings! It never got old, I took a photo of every single one I saw!So gorgeous! If we had followed through with our plan to get little matching trip tattoos, it would probably be one of these guys. Maybe it still should be.
Ugh! And the crossbones too!
Sometimes there is an angel instead of a skull. Something about the angels made them way creepier than the skulls to me.
Guys, I just couldn't pare these photos down any more! I love them all! Look at those stones!
Can you believe this stone is from 1708! And Miss Mary Higginson was 73! That seems like quite a feat for that time. If you're wondering if any of the victims of the witch trials were buried here, they weren't. They were put in unmarked graves because witches couldn't be buried on consecrated ground. But apparently lots of their families were able to dig up the bodies of loved ones and give them proper burials.
We couldn't stop laughing at this gravestone. See anything weird? Like they ran out of room before they could get all of the word in. I've been there stone carver, I get it.
::sigh:: please make me one like this when i'm gone. so cute.
Here is Travis freezing in his shorts. In the rain.
Oooo that's a good one!
There were also some moody urns on some of the gravestones. They were upstaged by the skulls.
And one final beautiful carving. Old Burying Point is definitely worth a stop if you're in the area! I wish it had been less wet, I would have liked to spend some more time there.
This was such a fun post! I love the stones! I like when they are a bit tipped, and they have moss on them.
ReplyDeleteIt's so crazy that they're really that old. I'm sure the rain wasn't fun for you, but it provided a great back drop for these pics. A dreary day in a grave yard! So perfect! :)
The cemetery and the stones look so cinematic that it is hard to believe they're real! A few friends were back there a couple of months ago for a festival and went to that cemetery too; it is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteit did look almost fake! I could have stayed there all day.
DeleteMy husband and I went to Salem in 2013 for our honeymoon and walked around this graveyard. The ground felt funny....too...flat. The stones literally felt like hard foam or dry coral. I swore it was completely fake. How is it these stones are so well preserved yet a stone anywhere else from any 1800's date is completely weathered and unreadable???
DeleteWow, this was cool. We went through it once. Creepy
ReplyDeleteI was told that when there is a crossbones on the stone then the person died from disease. This was because they believed that diseases were believed to be contiguous from the grave.
ReplyDeletehow cool! i haven't heard that before, but i love it.
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