Grove Street Cemetery

The First Chartered Burial Ground in the United States, The Grove Street Cemetery built in 1796 spans 18 acres on the east edge of Dixwell. Demanding attention through its Egyptian Revivalist gate bearing the ominous inscription “The Dead Shall Be Raised,” its muted brownstone wall echoing the grid of the city found in downtown New Haven by the green.

The site that is now the Grove Street Cemetery was largely farmland owned by the Fitch Family, and utilized by Nathan Mansfield as well as the prominent Hillhouse family.

The Grove Street Cemetery found its place within the cultural landscape of New Haven in response to the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1794-95. Designed by Henry Austin and Hezekiah Augur to supplement the New Haven Green as a burial ground as a consequence of overcrowding due to the rampant spread of the disease, Senator Hillhouse galvanized groups of local prominent families to create a new burial ground on what was farmland. As the first cemetery in the United States designed with the intention of having designated family plots, social and status stratifications were undoubtedly reinforced through its utilization despite it being a communal space. Indeed, the Cemetery embodied a paradox of equality and exclusivity (an assortment of white abolitionists and influential African-Americans may be found buried there), but nevertheless was highly segregated— Yale alumni, people of color and poor people all confined to their respective corners within its 18 acres.

The Grove Street Cemetery was named a National Historical Landmark in 2000, noted by the United States Secretary of Interior for its Egyptian Revivalist gate symbolizing an architectural trend of romantic-classicism of the time. This choice was meant as a nod to antiquity— designed to immortalize the past echoed within traditional burial rituals of lots, graves, and markers serving to forever represent the dead. Though the block on which it sits is rather quiet and less traversed than the streets found on either side, York and Prospect, the relationship between the Cemetery and the outside community (mainly the Yale Campus) appears rather symbiotic. It is to be noted, however, that the college’s president Arthur Twining Hadley had commented upon the the inscription “The Dead Shall Be Raised” a quotation from Corinthians 15:52 saying “They certainly will be, if Yale needs the property,” perhaps gleaning insight on the relationship between the University and the surrounding areas through witticism.

The Grove Street Cemetery contrasts greatly with the bustling nature of New Haven; it is rather quiet here. Located just beyond the 9 original plots of the city, the contrast between the hustle and bustle of Downtown New Haven by the Green is highlighted by the tranquillity of the Cemetery.