New England Oddities

This Week’s Best Photos

Below is a selection of our best photos taken over the past week. Click to open full size. Beneath the photos you will find links to our full Flickr sets for these locations.

The Georgie H. Camp Mausoleum at Northside Cemetery in Charlton, Massachusetts.

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Salem Center Burying Ground

If you are a frequent reader of this site, or have even just glanced at it once or twice, you may have stumbled upon the notion that I rather like cemeteries. I guess I’m what you would call a Taphophile: one who enjoys spending time in cemeteries researching, photographing, taking rubbings or even just walking through, looking around. I’ve been fascinated with old burial grounds and graveyards since I was a child – well before I knew there was a word for my “condition.” There is, to me, a special brand of dark beauty that can be found in cemeteries in general and New England cemeteries in particular.

Because I know I’m not alone – I’m sure our mutual affinity led many of you to click your way here – I am beginning a new series on New England Oddities called Taphophiliacs Anonymous. In this series, I will spotlight cemeteries around the region and beyond, one by one, in words and pictures.

To start the series off on the right foot, I have chosen one of my favorite locations so far: Salem Center Burying Ground in Salem, New Hampshire.

The area that would later become the town of Salem was first settled in 1652.  Originally the North Parish of Methuen, Massachusetts, Salem became part of New Hampshire when the boundaries between the states were re-drawn in 1741.  The town – named after that infamous locale in Massachusetts – was finally incorporated in 1750.

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This Week’s Best Photos

Below is a selection of our best photos taken over the past week. Click to open full size. Beneath the photos you will find links to our full Flickr sets for these locations.

Dark clouds spell an impending storm over Simsbury Cemetery in Simsbury, Connecticut.

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Dana, Ghosts Of A Lost Town

Our trip to Dana, Massachusetts took place on a rainy morning in May. The vibrations of this small community’s final days seemed to resonate through every dark cloud and sporadic shower we encountered. Though the skies seemed ready to open up at any second, we were determined to see it through, lured by the stories we’ve heard of Dana’s ghosts. This is an account of our first paranormal investigation at the discontinued township.

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This Week’s Best Photos

Below is a selection of our best photos taken over the past week. Click to open full size. Beneath the photos you will find links to our full Flickr sets for these locations.

The gate at Woodland Cemetery in Granville, Massachusetts.

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Headstone Symbols – In Hoc Signo Vince

When we walk among the many and varied grave markers anywhere in the world, we notice that while some are elaborate and complex in their imagery, others convey a message about the deceased in a simple yet significant way. This next symbol we are about to study is of a simple design – the three letters I, H and S overlaid upon one another.

The letters signify the Latin phrase ” In hoc signo vince”, which in English means: “In this sign you shall conquer”.

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