Charter Street Cemetery

The oldest settler cemetery in Salem, the Old Burying Ground was begun by 1637. The town selected a point that jutted out over the South River, and for the next two centuries, this patch of earth welcomed many of the deceased of Salem. The earliest surviving gravestone belongs to Doraty Cromwell, who died in 1673. Visitors can see the monuments of notable locals including Eleanor Hollingsworth, Simon Bradstreet, Nathaniel Mather, John Hathorne, Samuel McIntire, and Susanna Ingersoll. The stones are themselves one of the earliest surviving forms of public art, richly carved with motifs such as winged skulls and cherubim. Bordering the cemetery is the Salem Witch Trials Memorial, dedicated in 1992 to the memory of the 25 innocent people who lost their lives in1692. A welcome center is located in the Pickman House, which was built in 1672 and restored and opened to the public in 2021.