Old Cemetery

The Old Cemetery, also known as the Milk Row Cemetery, is a historic cemetery on Somerville Avenue and School Street in Somerville, Massachusetts. Established in 1804 on land donated by Samuel Tufts, it is the city's oldest cemetery. The cemetery was established when Somerville was still a part of Charlestown, and many Somerville residents used that city's Phipps Street Burying Ground, and later the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge instead of this one. As a result, this cemetery remained small, and was the only one established within the city limits in the 19th century.

Old Cemetery
Old Cemetery is located in Massachusetts
Old Cemetery
Old Cemetery is located in the United States
Old Cemetery
LocationSomerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°22′54″N 71°06′07″W
Built1804
MPSSomerville MPS
NRHP reference No.89001301[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 18, 1989
Elm tree at Milk Row Cemetery (August 2019)

The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.[1]

Milk Row Cemetery, Ghosts Of Somerville
Milk Row Cemetery Civil War monument
John Lealand grave

The city of Somerville opens the Cemetery for tours during the spring through early fall, and holds a special event called "Ghosts of Somerville[2]" in concert with the annual Halloween Monster Mash event. Costumed guides accompany visitors through some of the historically relevant graves, which includes one of an unknown British soldier of the Revolutionary War era that was discovered and relocated during nearby street reconstruction.

Civil War monument

The American Civil War monument, erected in 1863, is reputed to be one of the first in the nation.[3] Inscriptions around the base include text to honor the service of the SLI, or Somerville Light Infantry, as well as the names of soldiers fallen in the war.[4] The monument was built under the supervision of a committee of the Somerville Light Infantry, and funded by donations. Names and regiments are engraved on the monument, but the list is incomplete.[5] The lot in the cemetery was a gift of Enoch Robinson, and the monument was manufactured by Power & Hall, manufacturers of marble goods of Boston. That firm's junior partner, Charles E. Hall, was a Somerville resident.[6] That same firm created a Civil War monument for Hampden, Maine the following year.[7]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "Ghosts of Somerville 2006-2010". Somerville Museum. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  3. "NRHP nomination for Old Cemetery". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  4. "The Civil War Monument". Somerville Museum. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  5. Browne, Patrick (2018-07-07). "Somerville". Massachusetts Civil War Monuments Project. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  6. Reports of the School Committee, Selectmen, Treasurer, and Collector of Taxes, of the Town of Somerville, for the Year Ending March 1, 1864 (Somerville: Town of Somerville, 1864)
  7. Maine Civil War Monuments: Hampden

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