Park Cemetery

Park Cemetery is located at 620 Lindley Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was established in 1878 and covers 57 acres. In 1890, Congregation Adath Israel in Bridgeport purchased land located within Park Cemetery, and the "Jewish section" was used until the 1920s. It now exists as a small grouping of several stones in and around a tiny, fenced area in the extreme back end of the cemetery.

Park Cemetery is an eclectic place. There are stones engraved in foreign languages (German nd Dutch are popular) and several markers state people's country of birth. You can find veterans from conflicts beginning with the Civil War, but World War II seems to be the most represented. You will also find several Woodmen of America interred in Park Cemetery, and former Socialist mayor of Bridgeport, Jasper McLevy.

It is evident that Park Cemetery, at one time, was a rather nice area. But its present condition is deplorable. The cemetery's back boundary is the Routes 25 and 8 Connector - a loud, busy 10-lane highway that links the two thoroughfares to Interstate 95. Newer burials are being crammed into already crowded areas while other sections remain sparse. The area nearest the entrance (creating a disconcerting first impression) is festooned with dozens of flags, plastic neon whirligigs, balloons...it's like entering a carnival rather than the dignified, 150-year-old final resting place of thousands of souls. A map of the cemetery is provided at the bottom of this page.

The most atrocious aspect of Park Cemetery is its upkeep. As you approach the cemetery, there is a cheap, hand-painted sign informing you of your location. The columns flanking the entryway do not match. Another sign - a hand painted piece of plywood propped against a tree - says "close at 5:00". There are pockmarked roads in need of paving. Dozens of the stones are off their pedestals and broken, some into three or four pieces. The amount of trash on the grounds is also unacceptable. The Park Cemetery Association's explanation? A shortage of funds, despite continuous contemporary burials.

Think it couldn't get worse? Read this recent article (October 2018) about how Park Cemetery was illegally exhuming people and burying new bodies in old graves (second article) as a scheme to sell more plots.

Park Cemetery dates from approximately the late-1800s. Some of the local cemeteries I have researched date back as far as the late 1600s, and most are in better condition. Some communities have directed an organized effort to the clean-up and restore their burial grounds. The Park Cemetery Association  (620 Lindley St., Bridgeport, CT 06606. Phone: (203) 334-8165)  should be ashamed.

Curious as to why Bridgeport - Connecticut's most populous city that can trace its earliest European settlement to 1644 - only has one cemetery with stones dating from the 1700s? Visit the page, The Mystery of Bridgeport's Missing Cemeteries.

Estimated number of interments, as of February 2025: at least 13,659.

Photos were taken 19 October 2008.

"In grateful memory of the founders of the Park Cemetery Barak T. Nichols, Curtis Thompson, Bradley H. Hull and of James W. Thompson who developed and beautified it." 

Jasper McLevy (1878-1962), former mayor of Bridgeport, who served the city for 24 years. McLevy was a Socialist who later left the party and joined the Social Democratic Federation.

"Spanish American War

Richard A. Hellman

COX U.S. Navy

Died Jan. 3, 1952

Age 67"

"Erected by the Woodsmen of

the World (indecipherable...Latin?)

Parry Turner born August 15, 1876

died June 13, 1903"

There are several Woodmen of America

interred in Park Cemetery.

"Fred Charlie Kaimer" - there are no dates on the stone. Kaimer died 7 November 1918. 

The obelisk reads, "Stephen Nichols. Presented this monument to the Bridgeport Protestant Widows Society, 1882." 

"Erected in loving memory of departed members of the Danish brotherhood Lodge 37 and members of the Danishevg.luth.church Bridgeport, Conn. (Plaque) Erected by Christian-Maren Nielsen 1890-1944"

The plaque reads,

"MEMORY

My thoughts are wandering far from here

To childhood home and mother dear,

To fields of clover and golden grain

And to a house by a winding lane,

And there, while softly my tears are falling

I see you, mother, I hear you calling.

I send, dear mother, my love to you

And all the places my childhood knew."

Congregation Adath Israel Jewish Cemetery within Park Cemetery, in use ca. 1890-1920s.

A map of Park Cemetery.

All photos copyright by the author, 2009. Not to be used or reproduced without permission.

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