New England Oddities

The New England Oddities Photography Meetup – Member Photos!

The New England Oddities Photography Meetup has been out to some awesome spots so far this Summer, and I thought it was time we shared more member photos. If you like what you see here, please support the photographers by visiting their sites. As always, click any photo to view full size.


Celia Chan – Celia Chan’s Blog
The Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts

Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts

 

Heather Katsoulis – HLKphoto.com
Old Newgate Prison in Granby, Connecticut

 

Steven Eazarsky – Flickr, Myspace
Old Newgate Prison in Granby, Connecticut

 

Felipe Lopez – Email
Old Newgate Prison in Granby, Connecticut

 

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 pages for these locations.

Close up photo of a monument at Hillside Cemetery in Cheshire, Connecticut.

Continue reading This Week’s Best Photos…

From the Mailbox: Photos From A Reader

Recently we received an email from Dana, a reader from central Massachusetts who enjoyed our photos of Northside Cemetery in Charlton and decided to go get his own.

We really like his efforts, so we’ve decided to share them with you.  We love the tone he sets through his subtle but creative use of Photoshop.

Check out more of Dana’s work here: Zenfolio

Investigation at Hillside Cemetery

Recently we received an invitation to investigate Hillside cemetery in Cheshire, Connecticut; a ride along, if you will, with the Greater Hartford Paranormal Society. Now I know you’re probably thinking writing about cemeteries is Katie’s milieu, and you would be correct. But this investigation was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. Besides, I can’t let her have all of the fun, now can I?

Continue reading Investigation at Hillside Cemetery…

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.

A winged statue reaches up to touch a painted blue sky at Mahaiwe Cemetery in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Continue reading This Week’s Best Photos…

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.

One of the large Skinner family monuments at Forestdale Cemetery in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Continue reading This Week’s Best Photos…

Old Burying Point

The last installment of Taphopiliacs Anonymous focused on Salem Center Burying Ground in Salem, New Hampshire, but this week we move our sights to a different Salem: Salem, Massachusetts.

Though the two cities are not all that far away, they are worlds apart. To readers here, Salem Massachusetts no doubt needs no introduction. The site of the infamous witch trials in the late 1600s has, since the 1970s, become something of an east-coast holy land for new-agers and kitchen witches, and a required destination for spiritual spectators and curiosity-seekers. Boasting rows of vendors and museums dedicated to the craft, witch decals on city vehicles, practitioners licensed by local government and even an official witch, Salem is a city like no other.

The Old Burying Point, located within an easy walk of many Salem attractions, is likewise a cemetery like no other.

Continue reading Old Burying Point…

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 large tower at Hammond Castle in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Continue reading This Week’s Best Photos…

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.

Continue reading This Week’s Best Photos…

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.

Continue reading Salem Center Burying Ground…