Ancient Burying Ground – Hartford

Hartford’s Oldest Historic Site: The Ancient Burying Ground

The Ancient Burying Ground is Hartford’s oldest historic site and the only remaining burial ground from the seventeenth century. From 1640 until the early 1800s, it served as the city’s primary graveyard. During this period, all who died in Hartford—regardless of age, gender, race, ethnic background, economic status, or religious faith—were laid to rest here, making it a significant site of collective memory.

Commemorating People of Color in Colonial Hartford

The Ancient Burying Ground Association (ABGA) has worked to honor the lives of Africans, African Americans, and Native Americans who were part of Hartford’s community as early as 1639. Despite their presence, no gravestones marked the burial sites of more than 300 individuals from these communities, leaving a gap in public remembrance. To address this, the ABGA has supported several research projects dedicated to uncovering and preserving their history.

Honoring African and Native American Lives

In 1998, local students initiated research that led to the installation of a marker commemorating African Americans, both free and enslaved, along with five Black Governors who played leadership roles in Hartford’s Black community. Building on these efforts, the ABGA sponsored an in-depth scholarly study, “Uncovering Their History: African, African-American, and Native-American Burials in Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground, 1640-1815.” This project seeks to restore the memory of those buried without recognition, providing historical narratives that shed light on their lives and contributions to Hartford’s early history.

This site is open to the public.