A New Resting Place in Washington
Cemeteries are not something people tend to think about until the need arises, but it cemetery space has been a recurring conversation in Washington for the past 30 to 40 years. The current Select Board has begun to tackle this growing concern; We’re almost out of available plots.
In a recent Select Board meeting, the Board toured the Old Town Hall Cemetery as well as three potential spots for a new cemetery.
Walking the grounds of behind the Old Town Hall Cemetery, Select Board members and others who attended were relieved to see that there’s still space for a few new plots there. That will buy the town some time to work out a longer-term plan.
New Potential Cemetery Locations
The first potential site visited was at the corner of Washington Mountain Road and West Branch Road; our Town Common. This was the location of the old Congregational Church, which stood there from the late 1700s until around 1900. The section of that field north of the church footprint, bordering Washington Mountain Road, is the area under consideration for a cemetery. The plus sides of this location are that the town already owns the land, it’s clear, and there’s some logic to a cemetery being in what was once a churchyard. One of the concerns about this spot is the long-standing use of the field by snowmobilers. Without differentiating the graveyard space from the rest of the field, this could be an issue. A stone wall would be the most fitting boundary marker, but it could be costly.
The second site visited was a 5- acre parcel that was had been part of the Pittsfield watershed. The town negotiated to acquire that lot from the City of Pittsfield in the 1980s, but the deed transfer was only finalized recently. It’s a beautiful lot of forestland on Washington Mountain Road near the Appalachian Trail. Lovely though it is, the site would require a great deal of clearing and leveling. There also seems to be wetland plants growing there, so research will need to be done on whether it’s a suitable graveyard location.
The third site under consideration is right next to the Stonehouse Cemetery. It’s land that was owned by Robert Deubel, who died in 2020. Deubel did not have a will, and had no heirs. Other parcels of his land, along with the Stonehouse, are subject to a mortgage and will eventually be auctioned by the mortgage-holders to satisfy the lien. This particular lot was owned by Deubel outright, and there’s a path by which the town could acquire the land through a tax foreclosure. The property is quite tranquil. It has trees, but they are not old trees, and the land is flat; it would not be difficult to prepare it for a cemetery.
The next steps involve reaching out to the Environment Protection Agency and the Board of Health to understand any oversight and regulations involved in establishing a new cemetery space. Then the Select Board will need to create more complete proposals with cost estimates for the most promising site or sites. After these steps, there will be a meeting where townspeople can hear the proposals and offer their thoughts and opinions.
Looking back at the minutes of old Select Board meetings, cemetery space has been a point of discussion for centuries. In two April 1805 meetings, town leaders raised concerns that the cemetery behind the Old Town Hall was not going to meet the town’s needs. They assigned a committee to look into whether the town could purchase more land nearby the current “Meetinghouse Cemetery,” but that did not happen. The next point of discussion was about purchasing land for a burying burial ground from Anthony Eames for $6.67. The town purchased this parcel, known today as the Stonehouse cemetery. Now, almost 250 years later, our current town officials are looking into some of the same ideas as the early settlers had.
Though space is the most pressing issue, there are other questions and policies to be addressed. The Select Board is considering the formation of a committee to work on these issues. It has been a Washington tradition that residents can be buried in a town cemetery and do not have to pay for a plot, but those plots cannot be reserved in advance. It may be that residents would rather pay to reserve space. Former residents who have moved away have expressed interest in being buried in Washington. Some residents have expressed an interest in having their remains interred in a columbarium wall. When we do establish a new cemetery, we’ll want to map out a plot plan, and thought must be given to how to get excavation equipment to grave sites. These kinds of issues need some serious thought; the kind that a group of interested residents could take on as a project.
Town of Washington, April 26, 1805
