The Salem Street Burying Ground is a cemetery located at the intersection of Salem Street, River Street, and Riverside Avenue in Medford, Massachusetts. The Salem Street Burying Ground was used exclusively from the late 17th century to the late 19th century for the burial of the town's civic ancestors. It was acquired by the town of Medford in 1705 The earliest stone is dated 1683 and the latest 1
881 (although a handful of burials occurred until 1930). Records indicate that there are six hundred people buried there, but there are only 485 markers. There are several known reasons for this discrepancy. During the 17th century, one gravestone often marked the burial place of several members of the same family. The final resting place of no less than four members of the Wade family is marked by a single large, brown, slate block; among the largest in the burial ground. Similarly, near the Riverside Avenue entrance of the cemetery, a flagpole and granite stone marker (pictured) commemorate the graves of several unknown Revolutionary war soldiers buried there. The marker's text reads, "In Memory of New Hampshire Soldiers who Fell at Bunker Hill Buried in this Town and Interred at this Spot." Records also indicated that there are more than fifty slaves buried in unmarked graves in the southwest corner of the cemetery.
