Old North Cemetery - Weymouth, MA

The Old North Cemetery dates back to at least 1636, and is potentially one of the oldest active burial grounds in the United States. Its origins trace to the First Church of Weymouth, with the initial recorded burial being that of Zachariah Bicknell in 1636. During the mid-1800s, the cemetery underwent incorporation into the North Weymouth Cemetery Association, establishing itself as a non-profit corporation.

This historical cemetery boasts a diverse array of notable individuals, including the parents of Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, the second President of the United States. Among its distinguished occupants is Thomas A. Watson, renowned for Alexander Graham Bell’s famous line, “Mr. Watson, come here, I need you.”  Watson, a significant figure in South Shore Boston’s business landscape, owned the Fore River Shipyard for numerous years and chose to rest on a hill with a view of the shipyard and his Braintree residence. Albert Tirrell, the first person to successfully employ sleepwalking as a defense in a murder case, is also buried in the North Cemetery.