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Ancient Burying Ground – Hartford

The Ancient Burying Ground is Hartford’s oldest historic site and the only one remaining from the seventeenth century. From 1640 until the early 1800s, it served as Hartford’s primary graveyard. During that period, anyone who died in town, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnic background, economic status, or religious faith, was buried here. The Ancient Burying Ground Association (ABGA) has supported several research projects to commemorate and to remember people of color in colonial Hartford. Africans, African Americans, and Native Americans were part of the Hartford community as early as 1639, yet no stone commemorated the graves of more than 300 and perhaps more of their number. In 1998 local students initiated research that led to the installation of a marker to the memory of African Americans; free and enslaved people, as well as five Black Governors. The ABGA sponsored an in-depth scholarly study of all African, African-American, and Native American burials for which evidence has been found in the Ancient Burying Ground. This project, “Uncovering Their History: African, African-American, and Native-American Burials in Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground, 1640-1815.” also includes stories that delve deeper into the lives of these individuals.

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Opening hours

  • Monday
    8:30 am - 5:00 pm
  • Tuesday
    8:30 am - 5:00 pm
  • Wednesday
    8:30 am - 5:00 pm
  • Thursday
    8:30 am - 5:00 pm
  • Friday
    8:30 am - 5:00 pm
  • Saturday
    8:30 am - 5:00 pm
  • Sunday
    8:30 am - 5:00 pm

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