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Historical Oak Grove Cemetery Tour
Saturday, June 26



South Side ~ Parker & Liberty Streets, N. B.
(11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) / Rain Date: June 27

Tickets $15 at the gate or $13 in advance at:
Baker Books
Elaine’s at the Black Whale
New York Shoe Repair
The Surrey Shoppe

On Saturday, June 26, the New Bedford Preservation Society will present its 7th Annual Historical Cemetery Tour. The tour will feature Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford, where historic portrayals in period costume will take place at the gravesites of New Bedford notables along the tour route. Always a popular event, this year’s tour will focus on the older, south section of Oak Grove, where many of the city’s oldest, distinguished families are buried.  Cemeteries have been called outdoor museums, windows to the culture of the past.  They not only serve as a resting place for the departed, they tell us much about the times in which they lived.  Tour guides will highlight some of the elaborate memorials and explain the symbolism represented by the sculpture and decorative designs on the headstones.

Tours will step off from the Parker Street entrance (corner of Liberty) of Oak Grove Cemetery every ten minutes beginning at 11 a.m.  The last tour will leave at 1:30 p.m. The tour route encompasses approximately one mile in a 45-minute walk, so plan to wear comfortable walking shoes.  Advance tickets are recommended and will be offered at the following locations:  Baker Books, Elaine’s at the Black Whale, New York Shoe Repair and The Surrey Shoppe.  Advance tickets are $13; day-of-tour at the gate, all tickets will be $15.

Proceeds from the cemetery tour will allow the Preservation Society to continue such projects as New Bedford Re-Leaf, the Historic Marker Program, reprinting of Architectural Walking Tour Brochures, annual historic house tours, summer guided walking tours, lectures and other efforts.

Please call the New Bedford Preservation Society office at 508.997.6425

History of Oak Grove Cemetery

The land for Oak Grove Cemetery was purchased by a committee
charged by the town selectmen with developing a municipally owned cemetery preferably on the outskirts of town. The committee consisted of six men who selected eight acres of land in the northwest portion of the city, which had yet to be highly developed. Six of the acres were purchased from Dr. Alexander Read, and the remaining two were purchased from Bethuel Pennyman at the cost of $1,300. Additional funds were allocated for the development of the cemetery.

$770 was spent to construct the stone wall surrounding the cemetery, and an additional $330 was spent for laying out and the making of carriage ways and paths. The original entrance was on Smith Street, as can be seen by the formal granite pillars. The cemetery was opened on October 6, 1843, with appropriate dedication ceremonies. In 1868, an additional 14 acres were purchased and laid out. In 1887, another large tract of land was purchased across Parker Street and developed into additional burial space.

As you stroll through here, note the narrow pathways, some meant
for carriages while others just for foot traffic. Many of the lots were purchased for entire families, and you will see that they are set off by granite curbing. A number of these curbings would originally have had a surrounding wrought fence with an entrance gate. This was meant to keep the spirits in their place at rest so they would not wander and disturb the living. You will also notice that several graves as well as their monuments were moved here as the death dates predate the establishment of the cemetery. Many of these early stones are very plain, or perhaps it was the Quaker background of the owners that influenced their final resting place. You will notice there are many inscriptions on the stones; some are passages from the Bible.

Special Thanks
CORPORATE SPONSORS
Mausoleum:
~ Rex Monumental Works, 184 Dartmouth Street,
New Bedford
~ Saunders-Dwyer Funeral Homes, 495 Park Street, New Bedford & 50 County Road, Mattapoisett

Sculptured Granite:
Donaghy-Hathway Funeral Service, 465 County St., New Bedford

Marble:
Machnowski-Schick Funeral Home, 472 Ashley Blvd., New Bedford

ADDITIONAL THANKS

  • Annemarie’s Costumes
  • Sullivan Brothers
  • Paul Cyr of the New Bedford Free Public Library Genealogy Department
  • Historian Les Garrick
  • Jack Oliver and Sandra Manning, City of New Bedford Cemetery Department
  • Andrew Gallagher Studios
  • The Standard-Times and WBSM
  • Baker Books
  • Elaine’s at the Black Whale
  • New York Shoe Repair
  • The Surrey Shoppe
  • Mediumstudio
  • WFHN
  • Marc Leblanc and Mark P. Fuller, Co-chairmen Program Committee
  

Portrayals
Sarah Rotch Arnold ~ Suzanne Bergeron
Richard Canfield
~ Mark P. Fuller
Abby King
~ Marie Sullivan
Sarah Rodman Morgan
~ Kristina Dahlene
Ward Parker
~ Lawrence R. Houbre, Jr.
Amelia Johnson Piper
~ Dawn Blake Souza
Edward Mott Robinson
~ Ed Baldwin

TOUR GUIDES:
Bruce Barnes
Chris Parks
Gil Cardona-Erazo Marianne Stebenne
John Caron
Shelby Tripp
Christine Chambers
Walter Vinci
Mark Mahar
Louise Wheeler

VOLUNTEERS:
Kathleen Barnes,
Bud and Cathy Potter Pauline Teixeira

 
 
New Bedford Preservation Society 2007