King's Chapel Burial Ground (Boston, MA)

This is the third cemetery in a series of photos I've taken at various Boston cemeteries. Today, we're moving on to King's Chapel Burial Ground. Most of this will look pretty similar to the other two cemeteries I've talked about, but they play around a bit with those common themes and symbols. Believe me, I could have stacked this post with winged death's heads- they're absolutely everywhere (and my favorite)- but that doesn't give you a good idea of the variety of artwork this cemetery has.

Granary Burying Ground (Boston, MA) - Part 2

I last posted photos from the Granary Burying Ground over a month ago, intending to talk about the second set much earlier than this. February was a bit of a whirlwind, so here were are in March already. As I said then, I often come away with so many wonderful examples of gravestone art that I can't narrow it down into just a few images. So here are some more that I loved from this particular Boston cemetery.

A Cemetery Special

For some time I’ve had a documentary in my Netflix queue called “A Cemetery Special,” which was put out by PBS title in 2005. I finally took some time to watch it, not knowing exactly what it would cover but given my proclivity for the topic I figured I’d appreciate whatever they had to offer.

The Future is Now... -ish!

I haven't posted anything cemetery-related in a while, my mind has been on writing and stories and comics. But in the midst of everything else I came upon this nifty little app thanks to the Death Reference Desk on Twitter:

(from The Future Cemetery Facebook page)

Granary Burying Ground (Boston, MA) - Part 1

My next set of Boston gravestone photos is from the Granary Burying Ground. I have so many great images from this, and following cemeteries that I'll have to split them up. There are also many beautiful examples of some of the symbols I've already discussed, which I'd love to include but would be awfully repetitive. As much as I love seeing them over and over... only I would love seeing them over and over again.

Central Burying Ground (Boston, MA)

I've been a little slow on the posts this week, I'm taking some of my last vacation of the year and that means my mind is occupied by some other at-home projects. One of those tasks involved getting some old files off a laptop from two replacements ago. Luckily they were perfect to talk about here.

Several years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Boston, and although I was very sick at the time and didn't have much money to travel I couldn't pass up that kind of chance. Back in college when I was preparing a thesis paper on the value of cemeteries (go on and try to act surprised) my adviser rightfully suggested that I make time someday to visit two places: Boston and New Orleans. Reason being, their cemeteries are unique and in a word, amazing. So off to Boston I went.

I have many photographs from that trip that I'd love to share here over time, but for today I just have a few from the first cemetery I visited while there, the Central Burying Ground.

What is this, Cemetery Week?

I've been talking about cemeteries a lot already in this blog, which I suppose is indicative of the way my mind works. I find a thread and I follow it, sometimes much too far. But I discovered this article from last year which gives a great summary of the history of cemeteries as well as answering some of my own questions about how technology might be changing our burial customs. The interviewee also echoes many of my own thoughts and feelings about cemeteries, so I think it's worth a read. Check out:

Our First Public Parks: The Forgotten History of Cemeteries

"Where the living relax among the dead"

This article from an African news aggregator popped up in my special "Librarian of the Dead" section in Google News. It's an opinion piece someone wrote about a cemetery in Aberdeen, Scotland. It's not exactly well-written, but it thankfully says something many cemetery enthusiasts, myself included, have been saying for a long, long time.

"Graveyard Where the Living Relax Among the Dead"

Bronswood Cemetery

I belong to a special category of nerd that has an affinity for cemeteries and gravestone art. No, the word you're looking for isn't "goth." Don't let my predilections fool you, I'm far too much of a Poindexter to belong to that subculture. In my case the correct term would be a "taphophile."

The appeal of a cemetery to a taphophile has nothing to do with image, being morbid, or the idea of a burial ground as Spooksville USA. I don't visit them to lie around on top of graves in tragic poses or commune with the spirits of the departed. As fascinating as I do find ghost stories, I mostly go for the same reasons I would go to a museum. For the art, history and a large helping of philosophical reflection. Cemeteries do not make me feel the least bit morbid. In fact, I find them soothing and inspiring. I feel connected to something bigger while walking among the dead. Take from that what you will.