Restoring the Past – Ridgewood Cemetery Restores a Garden Cemetery

On Thursday, May 23, the Board of Trustees of the Ridgewood Cemetery in North Andover anxiously await the return and re-installation of the Cemetery’s bronze gates marking the entrance to the Cemetery for over 100 years.  The gates are making their long journey back to the Cemetery after a 9-month hiatus in Upstate New York from a fine arts foundry called Pollich Tallix located in Rock Tavern, New York, which is about 10 miles west of Newburgh in Upstate New York.  The return of the bronze caste gates marks a significant milestone in Ridgewood Cemetery’s efforts to restore and enhance the rolling hills and landscape of the Cemetery which began about 5 year ago through the Board’s efforts to restore the natural beauty of the Cemetery.

Ridgewood Cemetery, which is actually the third burial ground in North Andover, was formed in 1851 (then known at the time as Andover Cemetery) as a non-sectarian garden style of cemetery that uses landscaping in a park-like setting, and which includes the retention of natural features like rolling landscape and mature forests with added roads and pathways that follow the natural contours of the land, as well as the planting of hundreds of varieties of native and exotic trees and plants.  The garden-style cemetery movement in the U.S. was initiated with Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the 1830’s, and later caught on in the U.S. at this time in an effort to transform cemeteries into more of a park-like setting, and by encouraging the use of cemeteries as places to walk and enjoy the natural setting and landscapes.

About 5 years ago, the Cemetery’s Board felt it was essential to re-capture both the

historical landscapes originally designed throughout the Cemetery, and to restore many

of the important structures and features of the Cemetery.  “At that time,” noted Board

President, Jim Lafond, “we felt we had to make the most of the Cemetery’s dwindling space for

interment since at that time, it was felt we had enough burial space for only about an

additional 20 years and that we needed to determine how we can best preserve the cemetery

once it was closed to future burials.”  Remarked Lafond, “we had several historic buildings

that were on the verge of being beyond repair, and we had to do something about it.” 

The first order of business was to repair and reconstruct the historic gatehouse located

at the Cemetery’s main entrance to the grounds.  Through the assistance of the Town’s Community Preservation Committee, the Town of North Andover provided Community Preservation Act

funding to restore the building and it is now used as the Cemetery’s main office.  The Stevens

Foundation also contributed significant funding to support the rebuilding of this important building.

Next, the Board needed to develop a clear master plan designed to preserve the historic landscapes and preserve the Cemetery in its garden-cemetery image.  Working with the landscape architectural firm of Blair Hines Associates of Brookline, Massachusetts, and through the generous funding provided by the Town of North Andover through the Community Preservation Act, the Board completed a master plan which emphasized the historic landscaping of the area, as well as the important history embodied in the Cemetery.

As a result of this master planning process, the Board restored an area of the grounds located off of Marbleridge Road entrance originally designed in the 1930’s by noted landscape architect, Harland Kelsey, who collaborated with Frederick Law Olmstead in the planning and implementation of landscaping along the entire 105-mile length of Skyline Drive in Shenendoah National Park in the 1930’s and 1940’s.   Kelsey was also one of a five-person commission established by Congress to establish national parks in the eastern United States such as the Great Smokey Mountains, Shenendoah and Mammoth Caves National Parks.  Kelsey also worked on the layout of the Appalachian Trail extending from Maine to Georgia.  So it came as a great surprise to the Board that such a famous landscape planner and conservationist was involved with landscape planning and implementation efforts at Ridgewood.  Adjacent to this area is the newest section of the Cemetery completed last year called Marbleridge Gardens which has been planned as a cremation area, recognizing that modern burial trends are demanding the greater use of this type of feature.   “Out of this planning process,” noted Lafond, “we also learned a bit more about our future planning needs in that with careful planning, the Cemetery will be able to meet the needs of the Town for another 150 or so years; a far cry from the 20 years which we originally thought would be the end of the useful life of the Cemetery.”

Other projects completed or under way include a physical assessment as well as a conservation master plan for markers which includes a survey which identified markers in terms of priority for restoration.  The cemetery is also undertaking a records preservation effort which will preserve cemetery records which will eventually go on-line in order to assist persons desiring to perform genealogical research and become an educational tool.   

Also, through the generous financial support from both Town CPA funding, as well as through the Methuen Festival of Trees, Inc. (the Methuen-based nonprofit organization which funds historic preservation and restoration efforts in the Merrimack Valley) , the restoration of the historic stone main entrance to the Cemetery has just been completed.  The main gates to the Cemetery is the final piece to that restoration effort.

“Next on the list for the Cemetery,” notes Lafond, “is the restoration of the Veterans area of the Cemetery.”  The Cemetery serves as the final resting place for many historic persons important to the history of North Andover, including Frank S. Gile, who at the age of 18, became one of the youngest Congressional Medal of Honor recipients in U.S. for actions taken during the Civil War.”  Notes

Lafond, “we owe it to our veterans to make places like the Veterans area a special place.”  The Veteran’s section of the Cemetery serves as the final stop of the popular Memorial Day parade every year where services are conducted, and those planning efforts are under way.

“Through these efforts,” noted Lafond, “it is hoped that North Andover residents and others will take the opportunity to stroll through the Cemetery and recognize the natural beauty of the grounds, and appreciate the rich history that it offers.”