Walking Tour with of the Phillips and Gilbert Cemeteries with Dr. Hanna

Walking Tour with of the Phillips and Gilbert Cemeteries with Dr. Hanna

Location: Corner of Berkley and Pratt Streets

Located on the southeast corner of Berkley and Pratt Streets, in the city’s Weir section, the Phillips Cemetery—also known as the Happy Hollow Cemetery or Locust Knoll—is the final resting place of several of the city’s sea captains.  With approximately 100 graves ranging in age from the 17th to the 20th centuries, the cemetery also holds the graves of veterans of every war from the French and Indian War to the Civil War.

Directly across Pratt Street is located the much smaller Gilbert Burial Ground.  Among the graves dating back to 1746, here lie the bodies of a few members of the small African American community which once resided in the neighborhood known as Happy Hollow.  Several are former slaves.

Dr. William Hanna, author of A History of Taunton, will lead a walking tour of the two cemeteries. Ample parking is available on both Berkley and Pratt Streets.  The tour, which will require walking slightly uphill at times, will be conducted at a leisurely pace.  It will last approximately one hour.