Christ Church Burial Ground

Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia is an important early-American cemetery. It is the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin and his wife, Deborah. Four other signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here, Benjamin Rush, Francis Hopkinson, Joseph Hewes and George Ross. Two more signers (James Wilson and Robert Morris) are buried at Christ Church just a few blocks away.

For the cemetery in Quincy, Massachusetts, see Christ Church Burial Ground (Quincy, Massachusetts).
Christ Church Burial Ground
Benjamin Franklin's grave.
Location5th and Arch Sts.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates39°57′07″N 75°08′55″W
NRHP reference No.71000062[1]
Added to NRHPJune 24, 1971

The cemetery belongs to Christ Church, the Episcopal church founded in 1695 and place of worship for many of the famous Revolutionary War participants, including George Washington. The burial ground is located at 5th and Arch Streets, across from the Visitors Center and National Constitution Center. The Burial Ground was started in 1719, and it is still an active cemetery. The Burial Ground is open to the public for a small fee, weather permitting; about 100,000 tourists visit each year. When the Burial Ground is closed, one can still view Benjamin Franklin's gravesite from the sidewalk at the corner of 5th and Arch through a set of iron rails. The bronze rails in the brick wall were added for public viewing in 1858 by parties working at the behest of the Franklin Institute, which assumed the responsibility of defending Franklin's historic ties to Philadelphia after prominent Bostonians criticized the city's maintenance of the grave and erected a Franklin statue there.[2] Leaving pennies on Franklin's grave is an old Philadelphia tradition.

Burials

Other famous people buried at Christ Church Burial Ground include:

  • Benjamin Rush's grave.
  • The grave of John Taylor (right), a long-time grave digger at the cemetery.
  • Edwin De Haven headstone
  • Commodore Bainbridge's tombstone

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "How Franklin's Grave Became a Monument and Philadelphians Were Persuaded to Like It | Hidden City Philadelphia".
  3. "The Graves, Christ Church, Philadelphia, official site". Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
  4. United States Congress. "John Cadwalader (id: C000011)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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