Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery

Common Burying Ground
and Island Cemetery
Location Newport, Rhode Island
Area 31 acres (13 ha)
Built 1640
Architect Multiple
Architectural style Beaux Arts, Other, Romanesque
NRHP Reference #

74000044

[1]
Added to NRHP May 1, 1974

The Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery are a pair of separate cemeteries on Farewell and Warner Street in Newport, Rhode Island. Together they contain over 5,000 graves, including a colonial era slave cemetery and Jewish graves. The pair of cemeteries was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a single listing in 1974.[1]

Description

The Common Burial Ground was established in 1640 on land given to city of Newport by John Clarke.[2] It features what is probably the largest number of colonial era headstones in a single cemetery, including the largest number of colonial African American headstones in the United States. The predominantly African-American northern section of the cemetery is commonly referred to by local African-Americans as "God's Little Acre".

The Island Cemetery was established by the city in 1836, and transferred to the private Island Cemetery Corporation in 1848.[2] Many members of Newport's most prominent families have been buried there over the years. Notable people buried there include Medal of Honor recipient Hazard Stevens, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, Commodore Matthew C. Perry and financier August Belmont.

Notable burials

Prominent people buried in the Common Burial Ground

Prominent people buried in the Island Cemetery

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery.

Images

Common Burial Ground

Island Cemetery

References and external links

  1. 1 2 Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery" (PDF). Rhode Island Preservation. Retrieved 2014-11-05.

Coordinates: 41°29′47″N 71°18′56″W / 41.49639°N 71.31556°W / 41.49639; -71.31556

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.