Locked Out

The Charter Street Cemetery will be closed for the month of October.  This is bad news.  

As a public guide in Salem, I understand the many challenges the city faces every October (and beyond). Preserving invaluable historic sites, protecting them from tourists who seem to regard the city as little more than a theme park, is a major difficulty, and one for which there is no easy solution.

The Burying Point, also known as the Charter Street Cemetery, is the oldest cemetery in the city, and the final resting place of many Salem notables. The Burying Point’s historical significance makes it a stop on many, if not all, walking tours in town. Unfortunately, in October, the cemetery can become overrun with uninformed tourists not being careful around the irreplaceable headstones. The dangers this situation poses have led some to recommend closing the cemetery entirely for the month of October.
This is a flawed idea for several reasons.

First, it violates Massachusetts General Law, Part I, Title XVI, Chapter 114, Section 42a. That section states, “No cemetery … shall be closed for visitations between the hours of eight o'clock antemeridian and sunset …” This point has been brought up before, and the response has been that the Burying Point can be locked because the Quaker Burying Ground on Essex Street is closed and locked at all times. But citing another example of the law being broken does not seem to be a particularly forceful argument.

Secondly, the licensed public guides in Salem are not the problem. I am aware that many residents regard tour guides as little more than a nuisance, pedaling lies to tourists and taking their money, but that perception is simply incorrect. The majority of us got into the tour business because of our love of history, and our delight in sharing it with others. Locking the gate makes our jobs harder, and just ensures that there will be fewer knowledgeable, invested people to help keep an eye on the place.

Further, one of the problems mentioned at the previous commission meeting was that overnight, people are often seen jumping over the wall and into the cemetery. This is obviously trespassing, but locking the gate will not solve it. Locks keep out only the honest.

It has been proposed that access only be allowed to people on a licensed tour. While this seems like a possible solution, I feel it creates other problems. It could be seen as charging people admission for access to a public space. Many residents are perhaps understandably unhappy with the nonstop carnival that downtown can feel like in October, and allowing access to a historic cemetery on a cash basis only makes matters worse.

In previous years, monitors have been stationed at the cemetery gates, allowing in a limited number of visitors at one time, in addition to licensed tour guides. This seems to have worked well, and I see no reason why approach this can’t be continued

Protecting the cemetery, and encouraging visitors to more fully appreciate its significance and not just treat it like a movie set, is a major challenge. Simply locking the gate and waiting until November is the laziest solution.