History

Overview

The original Town’s Common Burial Ground was comprised of several acres and is located at the northern edge of the cemetery along Centre Street. Home to many colonial era slate tablets, it was laid out in a linear fashion. From 1854-1888, the cemetery acquired an additional 60+ acres of land which became known as the “New Cemetery”. The Trustees of the Cemetery hired several noted landscape gardeners to design the gracefully winding streets and pathways according to the principles of the rural cemetery movement. The firms of Whitman and Breck, Copeland and Cleveland and Ernest Bowditch all contributed plans for expansion. The ‘New Cemetery’ is characterized by rolling terrain, a man made pond, native trees and perennials and bordered by fieldstone walls.