METHUEN
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
Meeting House Hill Cemetery is located on a 2.4-acre rectangular parcel of land bound by East, Arlington, Brook, and Berkeley Streets. It was the site of the first Methuen meeting house (built in 1728) and is the only surviving major element of the original town center location. Many of the city’s founding members and their families are buried here. The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Sites in 1984.
In 2019, a group of volunteers led by Bev Brown of the Methuen Historical Society took on the task of creating an inventory and compiling an up-to-date index of the burial site. Refering to the book, Ye Catalog of Epitaphs from Ye Old Burying Ground on Meeting House Hill, published in 1893 by the Methuen Historical Society, the group of volunteers created this detailed map indicating grave locations. In addition to the inventory, the group cleaned existing stones and identified damaged stones for restoration and stabilization.
Click on the map to view a pdf of the cemetery map and index.
Photo by Amanda Sagba | Eagle-Tribune
The headstone of Reverend Christopher Sergeant, the first minister of the Meetinghouse, is among the hundreds of gravesites documented by volunteers of the Methuen Historical Society.
We are thankful for the financial support from the Methuen Festival of Trees, Inc. We are grateful to the following volunteers whose hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication made this project a success: Earlene Daigeneault, Paul Daigneault, Carol DeLano, Janice Fugge, Gary Marcoux, Nancy Marcoux, Ken Peck, Chris Reardon, Nancy Reardon, Deb Rovinski, Richard Smith, Jodi Smith, Cheryl Torres, James Torres, Tim Torres, Patricia Vaillani, Andrea Vannett, Tim Vermette, Kristen Westaway, and George Wolfendon.
Click on the image above to view a digital copy of the book of epitaphs.
Methuen's Meeting House Hill Cemetery Map and Index Online!
Many thanks to the Eagle-Tribune for featuring a story about our cemetery project on the front page of the July 24, 2019 edition. A big THANK YOU to Bev Brown and her team of dedicated volunteers!
Check out the story, History Detectives: Group Visits Cemeteries, Pieces Together Methuen's Past.
Photo by Amanda Sagba | Eagle-Tribune
Bev Brown takes notes as she spearheads members of the Methuen Historical Society in
documenting gravestones.
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