Hawes/Union Burying Ground
This South Boston site combines two adjacent graveyards: Hawes Burying Ground and Union Cemetery.
When South Boston was incorporated within the City of Boston in 1804, a proviso was made which stated three lots of land should be set aside for public use: a public market place, a school house and a burial ground. In 1816, John Hawes, a large land owner in the area, donated a small lot of land to be used as a public burial ground. The Board of Health sanctioned its use as a burial ground in March 1821, although it was used for burials prior to this time.
Union cemetery was the last cemetery to be laid out in South Boston and is the smallest in the district. It was originally a privately owned burial site. The gravestones date from 1845 to 1886. The City of Boston took over the Union Cemetery in the twentieth century.