Old First Parish Burying Ground

Stones
wars
and
beaches
The Old First Parish Burying Ground has been around since 1782. That’s when Richard Tarr donated the land to be used as the final resting place for the very first settlers of Rockport. He of course ended up being buried here.
The ancient graveyard was the only place to be buried for quite a while and use to be called The Sandy Bay Graveyard. It wasn’t until the mid 19^th century that people started calling it the Old Burying Ground.
Many of the residents weren’t only fisherman and settlers but also veterans of the Revolutionary, French and Indian War or War of 1812. There’s a whole heap of history in this graveyard.
The cemetery is actually a lovely place to be dead or a cool place to explore if you happen to be still alive. It’s on a gently sloping hill that gives great views of the wild Cape Ann ocean, rocks and beach. The location is wonderful even without the historic graveyard.
A very fascinating, cool, interesting and historically important old graveyard. This is the place where the most of the settlers that first started Rockport ended up.