Watertown's Oldest Burial Ground at French and Main
Corner of French St and Main St, Watertown, CT 06795
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Publicly accessible historic cemetery. No admission fee.
Access
Limited Access
Uneven ground with aged markers; colonial-era cemetery with narrow paths
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1741 · Colonial Cemetery · Revolutionary War Period · Connecticut Historic Preservation
The Old Watertown Cemetery at French and Main Streets is Watertown's oldest surviving burial ground. The first recorded burial is that of Hannah Richards, wife of Lieutenant William Scovil, who died in 1741. The cemetery remained in active use through 1926, when Martha Beardsley became the last person interred — a span of 185 years that places the ground squarely within the colonial, revolutionary, and early republic periods of American history.
The 963 gravestones represent the whole arc of Watertown's early settlement. Colonial-era markers, many in the eroded brownstone typical of Connecticut's Litchfield County, stand alongside later 19th-century marble monuments in a density that makes the cemetery a legible archive of the town's mortality patterns.
Reverend John Trumbull (1715–1787), described as the 'Poet of the American Revolution' in local historical accounts, is the cemetery's most notable burial. His work was published during the revolutionary period and he is commemorated as a significant figure in Connecticut's literary and religious heritage.
The Watertown Historical Society maintains records related to the cemetery, which appears on Connecticut's historic preservation lists.
A historical marker placed by the Trumbull-Porter chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution commemorates Reverend John Trumbull, who graduated from Yale College in 1735 and became pastor of the Westbury (now Watertown) Congregational church in 1739. The chapter continues to maintain records and grounds at the cemetery. Watertown was originally part of Westbury Parish before incorporating separately, and the Old Burying Ground served the parish community throughout the colonial period.
Sources
The paranormal claims attached to the Old Watertown Cemetery center on nighttime phenomena: orbs of light seen floating close to the ground among the older markers, auditory phenomena captured on recording equipment, and an apparition of a soldier in a worn, dirty military uniform that appears to follow people walking near the perimeter of the grounds.
The EVP claims are specific in a way that stands out from generic accounts: both children's voices and what witnesses describe as medical conversation — doctors speaking — have been reported on playback. The cemetery's history spans the colonial, revolutionary, and early republic periods; physicians and military personnel are among those interred. The specificity of the reported sounds maps loosely onto the historical population of the cemetery.
No independent paranormal investigations of the site have been published in accessible sources. The accounts derive from the Shadowlands database entry. Given the cemetery's genuine historical depth, the phenomena described would benefit from formal documentation.
Notable Entities
One of Connecticut's oldest surviving burial grounds, established in the early 1700s. The first burial, Hannah Richards (wife of Lt. William Scovil), dates to 1741; the last interment was Martha Beardsley in 1926. Reverend John Trumbull (1715–1787), known as 'The Poet of the American Revolution,' is buried here. 963 gravestones document nearly 200 years of Watertown's early history.
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