Concord's oldest burial ground and President Franklin Pierce's resting place, with reports of spirit lights and a lantern-bearing figure
137 N State St, Concord, NH 03301
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public cemetery open during daylight hours.
Access
Limited Access
Historic cemetery with grass paths, slopes, and uneven ground; roughly 5.85 acres
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1730 · Concord's oldest cemetery, established 1730 · Burial place of President Franklin Pierce · National Register of Historic Places (2008) · Graves of NH governors and Concord coach maker Lewis Downing
Old North Cemetery was established in 1730, making it the oldest cemetery in Concord, New Hampshire. The roughly 5.85-acre burial ground on North State Street holds graves spanning the colonial era through the modern period, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 2008.
Its most prominent resident is Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth president of the United States, who served from 1853 to 1857. Pierce is buried in the Minot Enclosure, an area added to the cemetery in 1860, along with his wife, Jane Pierce, and two of their three sons. The Pierce family plot remains a draw for visitors interested in presidential history.
The cemetery also holds the graves of New Hampshire governors David L. Morril and Matthew Harvey, and of Lewis Downing, founder of the Abbot-Downing Company, the Concord firm that built the famous Concord coach used across the American West.
As Concord's earliest burial ground, Old North Cemetery functions today as both a historic site and an active part of the city's heritage landscape. Its long history and presidential connection have also made it the subject of local legends, which circulate alongside the documented record of those buried here.
Sources
Old North Cemetery has accumulated a reputation for unexplained activity that circulates through Concord-area lore. Visitors and passersby have reported spirit lights, small glowing points that appear to drift over the headstones at night.
One account comes from a Concord Public Library staffer, Sharon Bonner, who said she was out early for a workout and, while driving past the cemetery, saw a woman in colonial-era clothing carrying a lantern as she moved among the graves. The figure is among the most often-repeated sightings tied to the grounds.
The best-documented episode dates to 1937, when neighbors living near the cemetery reported hearing a woman screaming late into the night. The Concord Police Department was notified and dispatched officers, who later said they too heard noises they could not explain. At the time, attention to the reports spread quickly through the neighborhood. Accounts note that the gathered crowd eventually settled on a more unusual conclusion, attributing the disturbance to an unidentified light seen hovering above the cemetery rather than to a haunting.
These stories are recorded in regional news features and local ghost-lore writing. They attach to a cemetery whose documented history, including its presidential burial, is well established, and the city presents the paranormal accounts as folklore rather than verified fact.
Notable Entities
Walk Concord's oldest cemetery and visit the Minot Enclosure, where President Franklin Pierce is buried with his wife Jane and two of their sons. Other notable graves include governors and Lewis Downing, founder of the Abbot-Downing Company that built the Concord coach.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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