Dorchester North Burying Ground is laid out.

The cemetery is located at today’s 611 Columbia Road. The oldest cemetery in Dorchester, its first grave is that of Barnard Capen. It is initially marked by the Capen Stone, inscribed on November 8, 1638, and thought to be the oldest gravestone in New England, and has since been removed to the New England Genealogical Society. Other graves include those of Rev. Richard Mather, William Stoughton, chief justice of the Salem witch trial courts, and Anne and Betty, two enslaved servants of Capt. Robert Oliver. The cemetery is expanded over the years. The original rail fence is replaced by a stone wall at the end of the 17th century. The cast-stone Egyptian Revival gates are installed in 1912.