New marker installed at Howard Street Burial Ground 

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New marker installed at Howard Street Burial Ground 
A new marker notes the locations of individual graves at the Howard Street Burial Ground in Northborough. (Photo/Normand Corbin)

NORTHBOROUGH – The first burials at the “Howard Street Burial Ground” in Northborough were of children during the winter of 1749 and 1750.  

Some sixty children died that winter from the “Throat Distemper Epidemic.” The burial ground was used until about 1837 when the Howard Street Cemetery was opened. 

In 2001, Eagle Scout, Kyle Vander Poel, prepared the original marker for this Burial Ground. The marker contained the location and identification of all 215 gravestones along with providing additional details of several Northborough ancestors buried there.  

After surviving for twenty years, the wooden marker needed replacement. With the help of Kyle’s father, James, who was able to retrieve original documents from 2001, and with Northborough Community Preservation Act funding, the Historic District Commission ordered a replacement marker.

The new aluminum marker was installed last fall. Anyone interested in colonial Northborough history is encouraged to walk the burial ground and read the very interesting epitaphs on many of the gravestones. 

The marker is dedicated to Brandon T. Santucci (1982-2001) a close friend of Kyle Vander Poel.

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