Old Center Burying Yard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Old Center Burying Yard
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 Location in Connecticut
Location in the United States
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| Location | 30 N. Main St., West Hartford, Connecticut |
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| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1719 |
| NRHP reference No. | 02000421 |
| Added to NRHP | May 3, 2002 |
The Old Center Burying Yard, also known as Center Cemetery, is a very old and important cemetery in West Hartford, Connecticut. You can find it at 30 North Main Street. It was started in 1719 and was the first cemetery in the town. For about 70 years, it was the only place where people in West Hartford were buried.
Many important early settlers of West Hartford are buried here. This includes Noah Webster Sr. and his wife Mercy. They were the parents of the famous Noah Webster, who created the first American dictionary. The oldest part of the cemetery was used regularly until 1868. The very last known burial in a newer section happened in 1971. Because of its history, the cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. This list recognizes places important to American history.
Contents
Exploring the Old Center Burying Yard
The Old Center Burying Yard is located just north of West Hartford's main business area. It sits on the east side of North Main Street. The cemetery is shaped like a rectangle. It has chain-link fences on three sides. The side facing the street has a lower iron fence.
The ground inside the cemetery is mostly flat. It has grassy areas and many old, tall trees. There are about 155 marked graves here. The oldest gravestones date all the way back to 1722.
Who is buried here?
Besides the Webster family, another notable person buried here is Bristol. Bristol was a former slave who passed away in 1814. His story is well-documented, making his grave an important part of the cemetery's history.
A Look Back at History
West Hartford started as a separate church area, called a parish, in 1713. Before that, it was first settled in 1679. In the very early days, people who died in West Hartford were probably buried in Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground.
How the Cemetery Started
In 1719, a man named John Janes sold a piece of land to the town. This land now makes up the northern two-thirds of the Old Center Burying Yard. This new land became the community's only burial ground until 1790. Later, in the early 1800s, the cemetery grew to its current size. This happened when the town bought the Whitman family cemetery, which used to be private.
