More About Ancient Burial Ground, aka Abbott Street Burial Ground

This cemetery was established in 1672 as the burial ground for the First Parish Church, on an acre of land behind the original location of the first meeting house, which was approximately where the White Whale is today. In the late 1800s, the Town of Beverly decided to lay Abbott Street through the middle of the cemetery land, requiring the relocation of about seventy gravestones, including that of Reverend John Hale. Today, the cemetery is on either side of Abbott Street. The Hale family plot is surrounded by a low stone wall within the burial ground on the north side of Abbott Street. Within the plot are Reverend Hale and two of his wives, Rebecca and Sarah, his daughter Rebecca, and other Hale descendants.

 

The first meeting house stood at approximately 9 Hale Street. The second meeting house was built in 1682 at 225 Cabot Street (where the First Parish Church is today). The current building was built in 1770 with major alterations done in 1835.