LOST CEMETERIES LECTURE & TOUR
Landmarks Conservancy Teams Up With Genealogical Society To Offer Lecture & Tour of Historic Burial Grounds in Hudson County
This Preservation Month 2009 Event is Generously Sponsored By Our Preservation-Minded Supporters:
Above Jersey City-Harsimus Cemetery photo by Frank DeMarco
Saturday, May 9, 2009 - 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. - Seats for this newly established historical tour will fill up fast - Reservation checks must be received by May 4 - Complete details provided below!
On Saturday, May 9, 2009, the Hudson County Genealogical Society and the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, in celebration of Preservation Month in Jersey City 2009, will co-sponsor a lecture and bus tour entitled The Lost Cemeteries of Hudson County.
The event will begin with a lecture by historians Richard Veit and Mark Nonestied entitled Stranger Stop and Cast an Eye, an informative lecture on the last four hundred years of New Jersey cemetery and tombstone design. Richard and Mark are authors of the recently published New Jersey Cemeteries and Tombstones: History in the Landscape.
Richard and Mark will discuss the evolution of burial sites and grave markers from the seventeenth century to the dawn of the twenty-first century. Such topics as colonial gravestones, stone carvers, Victorian cemeteries, monuments, mausoleums, and ethnic and cultural burial grounds will be discussed.
The lecture will be held in the Panasonic Room of the Secaucus Public Library, at 1379 Paterson Plank Road, and will start promptly at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will be followed by a bus tour of four Hudson County cemeteries in different stages of their histories:
Hudson County Cemetery, or Snake Hill Cemetery, which has ceased to exist and has been replaced by a New Jersey Turnpike exit; Speer Cemetery, which has been abandoned for over one hundred years and sits forlornly in the middle of Jersey City;
Old Bergen Reformed Church Cemetery, which sits across from Speer and holds some of the earliest Hudson County residents including Jane Tuers, a heroine of the American Revolution; and Historic Jersey City-Harsimus Cemetery which, if not for a dedicated band of local activists, would likely follow the same path as other forgotten cemeteries.
Ample parking is available at both the library and Snake Hill. We will meet first at the Secaucus Public Library and then everyone will drive to Snake Hill to park and where the buses will pick up tourists.
Time: 10:00 a.m. (promptly) - about 2:00 p.m.
Location: Starting from Secaucus Public Library, Secaucus, NJ
Directions: http://secaucus.bccls.org
NOTE: To help defray the cost of transportation there will be a charge of $5.00 for Hudson County Genealogical Society members and $10.00 for others. To be sure we have the right number of buses for the tour registration is needed and payment must be sent in advance.
Please complete the registration form if you're planning to attend (see link below; reservation box is on the right side of the web page), let us know how many will be with you, and send a check payable to the Hudson County Genealogical Society and mail by May 4, 2009 to:
Hudson County Genealogical Society
135 Irving Street
Jersey City, NJ 07307
ADDITIONAL SPONSORSHIP & SUPPORT PROVIDED BY:
