Dunbarton Cemeteries

Dunbarton Center Cemetery

    It has been said that early settlers followed the custom of establishing a graveyard near the meetinghouse. The first graveyard was located on Parsonage land on the southern side of the Common, on or near the location of the Dunbarton Telephone Company buildings. This spot was referred to as Prospect Hill. Town history states that the first burial was probably for Samuel Stinson, whose estate was settled in 1759. The land was found to have too much ledge for burials, and thus the cemetery was moved to its present site.

   The earliest entry for Center Cemetery’s present location was in 1767, when it was voted that “the Selectmen build a pound and fence the graveyard.” It was also voted "that any person or persons who shall not come, or send a hand to help build said pound and fence the graveyard…shall pay three shillings, lawful money, to the selectmen, to be collected by the constable.”

   In 1800, bids were again sought for fencing of the graveyard. Among the specifications was, “the Bids shall be by the rod (16½ linear feet) and nothing short of ten cents will be considered a bid.” In 1803, the selectmen set the bounds of the Common. 

East Dunbarton Cemetery

   This cemetery, currently located at Robert Rogers Road and Montalona Road, was first located adjacent to the old stone post on the Putney Homestead (now the Knight home) on Montalona Road.

   It was the resting place for members of the Putney family and sons of James Rogers. The date the cemetery was established is unknown, although it is known that it was at this location in 1791.

Pages Corner Cemetery

   This cemetery was originally the Page family’s private burial ground. In the northeast corner of the cemetery are several unmarked fieldstones marking the graves of the slaves owned by, and later freed by, Captain Caleb Page. The graves are now believed to be those of Scipio Page, his wife and three of his children. 

Stark Cemetery (Private)

   The Stark Cemetery, established in 1815 by Major Caleb Stark, was originally located on the south side of Stark Pond. Located north of the Stark Mansion, it was built as a private cemetery for the Stark

family and its descendants. In 1962, it was relocated to its present site on Mansion Road due to the installation of the Hopkinton-Everett Flood Control Area by the Army Corps of Engineers. The original site was below the flood line and in the event of major flooding, it would have been destroyed.

   The statue of Christ, standing with outstretched arm in an attitude of benediction, was erected in 1914 by Arthur Winslow as a memorial to his parents and other Stark family members. Winslow found the original statue, in marble, in a churchyard at San Miniate,Florence, Italy. Impressed by its beauty, Winslow arranged with its sculptor, Signor Dante Sodini, for this duplicate executed in bronze.

   The Dunbarton Historical Society maintains the current cemetery site as well as the original site near Stark Pond. The famous poet Robert Lowell is buried here.