Behind the Unitarian Universalist Church on Mugford Street, a trio of Harris Street cemeteries require extensive restoration. A stone wall at the Hooper Tomb has crumbled completely after its structure collapsed and subsequently was demolished due to safety concerns. Elsewhere, weathered gravestones lean at precarious angles, some cracked and sinking into uneven ground, while invasive vegetation threatens to consume the historic markers.
The cemeteries along Harris Street, dating from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, show years of neglect. Across the street from the Hooper Tomb (1805), the Martin Tomb (1827) and Harris Street Cemetery (formerly Pedrick Cemetery, 1762) fare a little better, with crumbling walls and tilting markers.
The Select Board recently established the Harris Street Cemeteries Committee to oversee restoration of these historic burial grounds. The cemeteries represent a significant portion of Marblehead’s historic cemetery portfolio, which includes two active cemeteries — Waterside Cemetery and Harbor View Cemetery – and several other historic sites including Green Street Cemetery, Old Burial Hill and the Hathaway Tomb on Highland Terrace.
“Around 2019, the Hooper Tomb started showing signs of stress down by one of the corners,” said Harris Street resident David Bittermann, the new committee’s chair and retired National Park Service preservation architect. “By about 2022, there was actually a hole in the wall.”
After the town ultimately demolished the remaining wall, Bittermann noted the Historical Commission “requested that all the stones be left there, because I think the possibility of its reconstruction restoration will be far greater with the stones left there on the site.”
Each of the Harris Street cemeteries has its own distinct history. The Pedrick Cemetery, now known as Harris Street Cemetery, dates to 1762 when Joseph Pedrick purchased the land. The Hooper Tomb was established in 1805 when Robert Hooper purchased land from Pedrick’s heirs for a family cemetery. The Martin Tomb was created in 1827 by the estate of Capt. Thomas Martin Jr. on their land holdings fronting Harris Street.
The committee plans to follow the successful model of the Old Burial Hill Oversight Committee, which has overseen numerous restoration projects through a combination of public grants and private fundraising. That committee’s work is ongoing.
“The initial Old Burial Hill project got started through Becky Cutting as a grant through the Massachusetts Historical Commission,” said Pam Peterson, chair of the Marblehead Historical Commission. “That was probably 12-14 years ago. They fixed it, basically. That was the first part of it was a survey.”
The cemeteries contain approximately 200 graves total, according to Peterson (who is writing a book on Marblehead’s cemeteries) though she notes exact numbers remain unclear. The Hooper Tomb alone holds multiple generations of the family, with connections to St. Michael’s Church.
“Even though there were several people in that tomb, family relations, he was a major benefactor of St. Michael’s Church,” said committee member Edward O. Nilsson, who also serves on the town’s Historic Commission alongside Peterson and Bittermann. “He really helped save the church in 1833 by donating money to completely renovate it.”
The five-member committee includes preservation experts and community members. Beyond the wall reconstruction, priorities include gravestone restoration, vegetation management and addressing drainage issues that threaten the sites’ stability.
“We’re concerned about vegetation,” Bittermann said. “I actually take care of one of them, the big sycamore tree. But as far as trees in the Patrick cemetery, there are some that need some help, some management, some trimming.”
The Harris Street cemeteries sit among a larger network of burial grounds in Marblehead, including three additional cemeteries not under town jurisdiction: Mugford Street Cemetery, associated with the Unitarian Universalist Church; Star of the Sea Cemetery on Lafayette Street, operated by the Catholic Cemetery Association and St. Michael’s Episcopal Cemetery on Pleasant Street.
Peterson noted potential funding sources include the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the Shattuck fund, the Historical Commission itself (though not for the entire project) among other sources. The Harris Street projects will likely unfold in phases, Bittermann said.
“After the wall gets done, the rest of the projects will be smaller and in phases,” Bittermann said. “We can continue to help keep things in good shape and mobilize to get things back into good condition.”
