To spot the Old North Cemetery, look for a patch of green grass sloping gently down the hill, dotted with weathered old tombstones peeking up beneath sprawling shade trees right beside Maplewood Avenue.
Alright, take a good breath of that crisp New Hampshire air as you stand here - maybe even a slightly spooky one - because you’re about to step back almost three centuries! Picture this: it’s 1751. Portsmouth isn’t the bustling little city you see today, but a busy colonial port with salty breezes wafting in from the tidal inlet, now called North Mill Pond. Back then, this patch of land was nearly a peninsula, jutting out into the wild waters, far away from railways and honking cars. Imagine the clop of horses, not train whistles!
You’re standing on ground chosen by Portsmouth’s people as a resting place for their loved ones, the largest of all the city’s 18th-century graveyards. Think about it - the city was growing so quickly, they needed extra space for their dearly departed. So they marked out this land and, by 1753, it was officially Portsmouth’s new cemetery. Over time, it became not only a final stop for townsfolk, but a VIP lounge of history - where you’ll find the stones of governors, soldiers, revolutionary heroes, and community leaders.
Gaze around. See those old headstones, each with its own personality? Some were carved by stonecutters from very far away - it was like having celebrity artisans of their day! The ground itself dips and rises, turning every small hillock into a stage for a centuries-old story.
Now, want a taste of the cemetery’s star lineup? Ammi Ruhamah Cutter rests here-a physician general from the Revolutionary War. John Hart, a colonial soldier who probably had some extraordinary tales, too. But wait, there’s more: William Whipple, who signed the Declaration of Independence (no big deal, just, you know, helping create a country), and his companion Prince Whipple, a formerly enslaved man who gained his freedom and helped shape Portsmouth’s early Black community. Add John Langdon and Woodbury Langdon-one helped draft the Constitution, the other was a justice and merchant. There’s also Dinah Whipple, a leader in the free Black community.
Don't forget, these grounds have shifted with the times: what was once a quiet pond-side graveyard surrounded by windswept wilds, is now beside a railroad and bounded by Maplewood Avenue’s buzz. Yet no matter how the world has changed around it, the Old North Cemetery holds the whispers and laughter, secrets and sorrows of Portsmouth’s past. Pretty impressive for a bunch of old rocks, wouldn’t you say? Now, onward to our next stop-where walls listen, floors creak, and even more stories wait!
