The Nashua Historical Society
Archives and Museums

Stone Enclosed Family “Garden Style” Plot

Unlike older graveyards which had rows of “memento mori” gravestones, the garden style cemeteries allow a family an entire area to bury loved ones.  Many times there is one large, ornate headstone with the family name and other smaller headstones memorializing family members.  A dressed granite bumper or even an iron fence was designed to enclose the area, and often included an entrance with a built-in step displaying the family name.

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Look around this cemetery and notice many places where there are holes in the stone. These likely held metal fencing.  Imagine what this cemetery looked like one hundred or more years ago with the fencing surrounding the majority of plots!