The oldest grave here belongs to a Mr. Joseph Merriam, who died April 20, 1677.

Dozens of Revolutionary War veterans are also buried here, including Major John Buttrick, one of the leaders of the Minutemen at the Battle of Concord (and supposedly the one who fired the shot heard 'round the world).

This nearly 32-acre cemetery dates from 1855, and includes such literary notables as Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The earliest graves in this Lexington cemetery date from 1690.

American soldiers killed during the Battle of Lexington in 1775 were originally buried here, but their remains were transferred in 1835 (though the remains of a British soldier who died from the battle are buried here).

The cemetery contains the graves of many prominent early Lexington settlers, according to the town.

Established in 1683, this cemetery became the burial ground for the then-Town of West Roxbury.

The earliest burials in this cemetery in what was then known as "Little Cambridge" date from the 1760s.

This cemetery includes more than 900 people who served during the Civil War.

The big sphinx statue there, in fact, is a memorial to those who died in the war.

The last interment in this cemetery dating from 1717 was as recent as 1995.

The first grave here dates from 1653, and, because it was the only burying ground in Cambridge for about 200 years, it contains more than 1,200 resting places.

The 275-acre cemetery dates from the late 1840s, and Mt. Auburn in Cambridge inspired its design.

Notables interred there include poets e.e. cummings and Anne Sexton as well as playwright Eugene O'Neill.

The sculpture "Death Stays the Hand of the Sculptor" by Daniel Chester French (think the Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Memorial) is also there.

This is the oldest cemetery in Roxbury, with the first interment having been in 1633.

Dating from 1810, gallows were located on the east end of this cemetery, prompting the myth that mostly pirates and other criminals were buried here.

Who, exactly, is buried here, however, is difficult to determine as it was not a site for the fancy-stone-buying elite.

This cemetery dates from the mid-17th century, around the time of the colonization of Charlestown.

Burials started here in 1754, and include those for British soldiers killed during the Revolution as well as painter Gilbert Stuart.

There are also tombs housing remains disturbed during street and T construction.

First laid out in 1634, it's Dorchester's oldest surviving landmark.

It contains the remains, too, of as many as 40 unknown Revolutionary War veterans.

Burials may have started here as early as 1801, just over 25 years after the famous battle nearby.

The official founding year is 1807, though.

This is the granddaddy of Boston burial grounds, dating from 1630, and including such notables as John Winthrop, Massachusetts' first colonial governor, and William Dawes, who rode with Paul Revere.

This cemetery was laid out in 1659, though burials might have started more than 20 years before.

The Mathers of ministerial fame are entombed here, as is Robert Newman, who placed the lanterns in Christ Church to warn Paul Revere.

Established in 1818, the site is likely the oldest Catholic cemetery in Massachusetts and definitely the oldest in South Boston.

A chapel was built within it around the same time, the oldest Catholic church building in the commonwealth.

This plot dating from 1838, one of the first planned open spaces of East Boston, has an unusually high number of epitaphs in foreign languages due to the number of immigrants buried there.

This was the original resting place of presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams (until they were moved across the street).

It dates from 1640, and is named after the father of the Founding Father.