Smallpox Cemetery
Photo added by Mary Ann and Johanna Witt

Smallpox Cemetery

Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

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  • Get directions Fairhaven Road
    Concord, Massachusetts 01742 United States
    Coordinates: 42.44572, -71.35412
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Concord's smallest public burial ground, the smallpox cemetery is a rectangle, approximately 35 x 25', on a rise on the east side of Fairhaven Road adjacent to the south side of Route 2 (Concord Tpk). Ringed with a low stone wall, it is unlandscaped, and has only two stone markers, both for the grave of Sarah Potter.

This tiny burial ground, perched today nearly on the bank of a busy highway, is significant in the medical and social history of the town of Concord. Although it contains only one marked grave, that of Sarah Potter, it is commonly understood to contain the graves of all ten people who died in the smallpox outbreak of 1792, eight from the disease itself, and two from innoculations.

The very existence of this cemetery reflects attitudes of the times. It was set up specifically for victims of the 1792 smallpox epidemic, "it being considered improper to enter them in the usual ground."

The Massachusetts Historical Commission refers to this cemetery in MACRIS as CON.801 Smallpox Cemetery.





Concord's smallest public burial ground, the smallpox cemetery is a rectangle, approximately 35 x 25', on a rise on the east side of Fairhaven Road adjacent to the south side of Route 2 (Concord Tpk). Ringed with a low stone wall, it is unlandscaped, and has only two stone markers, both for the grave of Sarah Potter.

This tiny burial ground, perched today nearly on the bank of a busy highway, is significant in the medical and social history of the town of Concord. Although it contains only one marked grave, that of Sarah Potter, it is commonly understood to contain the graves of all ten people who died in the smallpox outbreak of 1792, eight from the disease itself, and two from innoculations.

The very existence of this cemetery reflects attitudes of the times. It was set up specifically for victims of the 1792 smallpox epidemic, "it being considered improper to enter them in the usual ground."

The Massachusetts Historical Commission refers to this cemetery in MACRIS as CON.801 Smallpox Cemetery.





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  • Added: 8 Dec 2013
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2522840