Broad Street Cemetery, laid out in 1655, is Salem's second oldest burying ground. On May 17, 1655 the Town Report disclosed an order that "there shall be a burial place on the hill about Francis Lawes' House." The cemetery was first known as "Lawes' Hill burial Place," then "Ye Old Common Burying Hill" in 1780, and finally, Broad Street Cemetery. It is located within the McIntire Historic District and the Chestnut Street Historic District.



The high southeastern section of Broad Street Cemetery is the oldest. The cemetery was enclosed for the first time in 1732. The cemetery contains a significant number (71) of Revolutionary War veterans. Perhaps the best known is Col. Timothy Pickering (d.1829) who lived in the Pickering House (1651), 18 Broad Street, across from the cemetery. He was an aide to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War and a cabinet member during the presidential administrations of Washington and John Adams. Ten successive generations of Pickerings have occupied the Pickering House, now the oldest house in the United States to be continuously occupied by a single family.



Captain Jonathan Haraden (1745-1803), another Revolutionary War hero, is also buried in the cemetery. His inscription reads: "A distinquished Naval Commander in the war with Great Britian."



Rev. Thomas Barnard (1748-1814), also important in the Revolution, is buried in the cemetery. It was at his Second Congregational Church where the announcement was made on February 26, 1775 that the British, under the command of Col. Leslie, were advancing on Salem. Barnard himself was instrumental in the subsequent negotiations, saving many lives.



Civil War veterans are also represented in Broad Street Cemetery. One of the most renowned is Arthur Forrester Devereux (1836-1906), who was Captain of the Salem Light Infantry. Another is Samuel Cook Oliver (d.1888), a Brevet Colonel, who was wounded at the Battle of Antietam.



The cemetery sits on 2.69 acres. There are approximately 680 headstones. The earliest death date is 1684 (Stephen Sewall). The latest 1988.



The Massachusetts Historical Commission refers to this cemetery in MACRIS as SAL.804 Broad Street Cemetery.



This cemetery is referred to as GR7 Broad Street Cemetery in the "Vital Records of Salem Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849."