Directions to the Old Burying Ground Cemetery of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Clockwise from bottom left: 1) Placard on the front of The First Parish Church in Cambridge; 2) The First Parish Church in Cambridge; 3) Christ Church of Cambridge; 4) Placard on the Christ Church; 5) Bullet hole from the Revolutionary War on the Christ Church.

Because it is so genuinely difficult to drive in Boston (I was walking and I could tell how bad it is!), I recommend taking public transportation.  We were staying at Wompatuck State Park, so we drove to the closest "T" station, the Quincy Adams Station (exit 19), parked the car and took the "T" into the city.  We had a Thule on the top of the Suburban, which made us almost 8 feet high, so even though there is a big parking garage, we had to park in the outdoor lot.  If you're coming from Route 3 to the Quincy Adams Station and want to park outside, instead of turning right into the parking garage, go straight - it's the first right after the stoplight. I won't go into the details of buying tickets, etc.  I'll post a blog and you can get that info there if you're interested. Quincy Adams station is on the Red Line, which takes you directly to the center of Boston and on to Harvard Square, which is NOT in Boston proper.  So if you're hanging around, say, the Old State House and want to go to the Old Burying Ground, just take the subway! There are several exits from the Harvard Square station.   On this map, the station is at the bottom of the map and doesn't show all the exits.  It's a huge underground terminal, so try to look for street names or landmarks on the signs, such as Massachusetts Ave or Church Street, and exit accordingly.  If you have a stroller and want to go to the handicapped accessible exit, please note that not only is it a hike, it takes you out on the wrong side of the street, next to Harvard University.  After our third trip into Boston, we realized that just collapsing the stroller and carrying it up the stairs sometimes was less energy than finding and walking to the handicapped exits - send a "scout" to make sure you have the right side of the road. You want to come out an exit across from Harvard University.  We exited from the middle of the platform (Church Street) and came out in the perfect place, just a little ways down the street from the cemetery. We turned right (north) out of the subway, crossed Church Street - there is a large white church with a huge spire, the First Parish Church in Cambridge, on the corner - passed the church, saw the cemetery, then spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get in the cemetery. We asked inside First Church (it looks like the cemetery entrance should be next to this church), but they said we had to walk all the way around to the other side, next to Christ Church (follow the fence - you can't get around the back of First Parish), which is located at Zero Garden Street.  This map has the Old Burying Ground marked as Presidents' Graves.  That's Presidents of Harvard, obviously.  So, once you've walked around to the other side, if you're looking at Christ Church, the entrance to the cemetery is a break in the fence to the left - you have to look for it a little.  I don't imagine that many people visit here, so it's kind of inconspicuous.  Click here to see a brief history of Christ Church, with lots of great photos of the Old Burying Ground. Also note: Christ Church's offices are to the right of the church, and on the bottom floor and, if you ask politely, you can get an index of all the people buried in the Old Burying Ground.  Just remember that this is a working church, so they pretty much just hand you the book and you have to do the rest for yourself. For future reference, if you just want a map of the area, please click here.  It's a Harvard map of the area which is much more detailed than any other map I've found.  You can do a search for landmarks at the top of the page.  The Yahoo! maps I looked at don't name all the buildings.

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