Temple Ohabei Shalom Cemetery

The cemetery sits on Wordsworth Street in East Boston and serves as a burial ground for Jewish residents since 1844. Gravestones bear Hebrew and English inscriptions across the roughly 2.4 acre site, with a Gothic Revival chapel built in 1903 marking its grounds.

The cemetery became the first legally recognized Jewish burial ground in Massachusetts in 1844, after Boston's first synagogue received permission from city officials. This establishment marked a turning point for the Jewish community, which had previously transported its deceased to other locations.

The chapel in Gothic Revival style shows how the Jewish community blended its religious traditions with American architecture of the 1800s. On the gravestones, visitors see Hebrew and English inscriptions that record the presence and integration of Jewish residents into Boston's life.

Visitors can use maintained GPS coordinates and photographs to locate graves and find about 86 percent of burial sites documented in accessible records. These tools help you navigate the grounds independently and find the names and locations you are looking for without getting lost.

Before this cemetery opened, Jewish families had to transport their deceased to burial grounds in Rhode Island, the Caribbean, or Europe, a difficult practice that lasted generations. Once this ground became available, it relieved the community of this heavy burden and became a place of local importance.