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Cemeteries

About

The Town of Seneca Falls is the caretaker of four cemeteries: Bridgeport Cemetery, Fox Cemetery, Pioneer Cemetery, and Restvale Cemetery are overseen by the Cemetery Commission appointed by the Town Council and records management is at the direction of the Town Clerk.

Bridgeport Cemetery

Located east of Seneca Falls at Bridgeport, off State Route 89 on Lake Road on the western shore of Cayuga Lake

History

The land located on the west shore of Cayuga Lake just north of the village of Bridgeport, was described as “from the top of the hill to the low-level lake shore”. This land was given by Darryl Lay, he being a part of a large family as evident when walking the grounds of the cemetery and he owning large amounts of acres. The earliest burial was in the late 1700’s. In 1776 Revolutionary Solider, Christopher Baldy, was laid to rest there on the banks of home as many of other veterans. As with all small communities, due to natural growth, some monuments grew into the tree and as a result had rotted and fallen. This tree was listed in “Ripleys Believe It or Not!”. Today a concrete slab has been poured and the three stones are laid on their site.

In 1965 a count and history of the burials was taken noting there were 309 souls interred. Burials take place to present day, however the plots are owned by families

Fox Cemetery

Located on Black Brook Road just north of Town

History

Fox Cemetery is also known as Black Brook Cemetery. There are few public records for the cemetery. The first burials were in the early 1800’s and on what would have been farmland. Until recent, the cemetery was taken care of by the families that lived in the area, but is now being maintained by the Town of Seneca Falls. As of record, there are approximately 218 souls buried. Burials continue to be held.

Pioneer Cemetery

Located off Ovid Street on Cemetery Lane

History

The Cemetery received a letter of patent July 8, 1790 to Abraham Van Amburg, and then changed hands in 1795, 1795 and 1810. In 1811 it was deeded by Samuel L. Hopkins, Sarah L. Hopkins and Oliver L. Phelps to Wilhelmus Mynderse. This would make Pioneer Cemetery the oldest and first used in Seneca Falls, between the years 1790 to 1849 and again from 1820 to 1848 when the new cemetery, Restvale, opened on East Bayard Street.

Records show there are 101 souls, some in their nineties and some as young as infants. The cemetery is closed to burials.

  • No Map Available
  • GPS Coordinates: 42.9071253, -76.7976748

Restvale Cemetery

Located on East Bayard Street History

History

Restvale opened for burials in 1848. In 1858 Benjamin F. Beach of Seneca Falls built a home which stood near the center gate to the cemetery, east of the present entrance. Beach and his wives are buried just inside of the original entrance in Section B. Beach was an early pioneer from Connecticut and a public school teacher. He and his family lived here until after 1875. Owning the land, he sold a strip of land to the Catholics for burials west of the ravine known as Beach’s Hollow. At the main entrance there is an 1866 mausoleum, no longer used as a Mausoleum and a small white building that was the cottage. On April 12, 1875, Beach gave a warranty deed to the Village of Seneca Falls for all of this land to be used as a cemetery. The Iroquois Seneca Indians dug mica out of the mica beds there. The original gates are now east of the brick entrance. The cemetery was named by Jane Clark, and she is buried in Section H. Jane was the first person of a European descent to be buried at Restvale. A Civil War Veterans section holds 283 veterans. In July 1914 the Village had a Mausoleum built in Restvale, and it was constructed of marble, granite and bronze. One of the crypts holds the remains of a member of Lincoln’s Calvary. It holds 125 crypts; 13 remain vacant.

The number buried ranges in the thousands and as of now has limited number of spaces available for burials.