HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
17th-century cemetery adjacent to Cambridge Common, holding the remains of early Harvard presidents in subterranean tombs.
1450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access during daylight hours.
Access
Limited Access
Historic cemetery with uneven grass, gravel paths, and 17th-century gravestones; not paved.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1635 · Established 1635 — Cambridge's oldest cemetery · Burial site of early Harvard presidents · Old Cambridge Historic District · 17th–18th century New England gravestone art
The Old Burying Ground was established in 1635 in what was then the village of Newtowne (renamed Cambridge in 1638). The site was Cambridge's primary cemetery from 1635 until the 1840s, when the new Mount Auburn Cemetery in adjacent Watertown opened. The grounds sit adjacent to Cambridge Common, just north of Harvard Yard, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Garden Street.
The cemetery contains approximately 1,200 marked graves and additional unmarked burials. Notable interments include several early Harvard presidents — Henry Dunster (Harvard's first president), Urian Oakes, and others — as well as Revolutionary War soldiers and prominent colonial-era Cambridge residents. The grounds include a series of underground tombs holding more than 25 caskets, used for above-ground burials by prominent local families.
The gravestones include examples of 17th- and 18th-century New England carving traditions: winged death's-heads, soul effigies, and willow-and-urn motifs. Several stones are attributed to specific carvers and are studied as exemplars of regional gravestone art.
The burying ground is a contributing site to the Old Cambridge Historic District. It is owned by the City of Cambridge and remains open to the public during daylight hours. Christ Church Cambridge (adjacent) and Cambridge Common form a continuous historical landscape with the cemetery at their center.
Sources
The Old Burying Ground has long served as the focal point of Cambridge's autumn ghost-tour ecosystem. The Harvard Crimson's 2023 'FM Campus Ghost Tour' describes the cemetery's subterranean tunnels and tombs, noting that visitors have reported 'orbs of light and full-bodied apparitions' on the grounds. The 2015 Harvard Gazette feature 'Amid the Old Burying Ground' frames the cemetery as a focus for autumn campus folklore without endorsing specific paranormal claims, instead drawing attention to the gravestone iconography and the documented Harvard-presidential interments.
Lore tied to the cemetery is more general than the specific named-ghost stories attached to other Harvard-Cambridge sites; it functions more as an atmospheric and historical anchor than as a venue for a single dominant ghost story. Cambridge ghost tour operators routinely incorporate it as a stop for the combination of authentic 17th-century mortuary art, multiple Harvard-presidential burials, and proximity to other haunted Cambridge sites (Christ Church, Wadsworth House, Cambridge Common).
The cemetery's after-dark closure means that paranormal claims are typically based on dusk or daytime visits and on retrospective accounts from nearby residents.
Notable Entities
Walk the Old Burying Ground (established 1635), Cambridge's oldest cemetery, adjacent to Cambridge Common. The grounds contain the graves of several early Harvard presidents and prominent colonial Cambridge residents. Underground tombs holding 25+ caskets are not publicly accessible.
The cemetery is a regular stop on Cambridge ghost and history walking tours, which contextualize the burial-ground's role as a Harvard-presidential resting place.
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