Posts Tagged ‘West Parish Garden Cemetery’

Director’s Blog: What can you do at the Historical Society this week?

Monday, October 24th, 2011

After enjoying our Friday evening Cocktails from the Crypt program, visit the Society’s library to learn more about Andover’s historic cemeteries

Historic cemeteries have been described as “History written in stone.”  Cemeteries are a tangible link to the past and are a unique way to explore local history.  Explore these natural places to learn about who lived here and shaped the Andover we know today.  By studying the ages, names, symbols, and epigraphs in cemeteries, we can learn about our town’s cultural, religious, and historical background.

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Photo of the Week

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

Swmming in the cemetery reflecting pool

This week’s photo is an early image of the Lewis family.  The photo came from the Lewis family photo file in the archives.  Local historian Jim Batchelder identified the background and maybe some of the children.  The Lewis children are swimming in the reflecting pool near the tomb at West Parish Garden Cemetery.  The photo would have been taken during the cemetery expansion of 1910-1912.  Jim thought the tallest boy might be Arthur Lewis who was an aviator in World War I.

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West Parish Garden Cemetery

Friday, October 29th, 2010

While the rest of Essex County is busy exploring tales of ghosts and vampires this weekend, why not pay a visit to one of Andover’s most charming walking sites?   West Parish Garden Cemetery, 129 Reservation Road, Andover, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  This beautiful landscape includes woodland paths, cobblestone walkways, stone bridges, and a reflecting pond. A cobblestone path from the magnificent triumphal arch that graces one cemetery entrance leads to a stone cottage where the bereaved once gathered.  Down the road it a jewel of the cemetery, The Chapel at West Parish.  This English-style stone chapel was built in 1909 and features Tiffany stained glass windows.

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West Parish Garden Cemetery Celebrates 100 Years

Thursday, May 21st, 2009
The now lush Garden Cemetery in 1909.

The now lush Garden Cemetery in 1909.

At the 19th Annual Andover Preservation Awards held Tuesday, May 19, 2009, a special Award for Group Achievement was presented to the West Parish Garden Cemetery for their dedication to the preservation of this special place in Andover.

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Stone masons at work on the Garden Cemetery in 1909.

As written in the award program book, “The original burial ground was founded in 1692.  In 1909 the burial ground was transformed into a 54-acre garden cemetery by American Woolen mill president William Wood.  The cemetery’s winding roads, cobblestone pathways, ponds, stone walls, memorial arch, and Romanesque chapel make the cemetery the centerpiece of the West Parish Center National Register District.  The cemetery committee has guided cemetery operations for 15 years and raised nearly $1,000,000 to restore and preserve this idyllic and peaceful place.”

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