by Erin Feith, Coordinator of Research & Visitor Engagement
September 15, 2026
Nearly six decades before the nation’s founding, the Whippany Burying Yard was established in what soon became Hanover Township and began its centuries-long service to the community. The burying yard, which today covers just over two acres of land extending from Route 10 to the Whippany River, is Morris County’s oldest documented cemetery and has adapted to generations of change, reflecting the evolution of the area over time.
In September 1718, the land on which it sits was donated by local schoolmaster John Richards for public use, such as for a house of worship, schoolhouse, cemetery, or militia training field. Although Richards passed only three months later, his wishes for the property were honored and his gravesite became one of the first within the burying yard. A small meeting house was also erected on the property for the area’s Presbyterian congregation. While the meeting house was dismantled in 1755 and the congregation relocated to a larger church in present-day East Hanover, the burying yard continued on as a final resting place for local residents. Among those buried within its confines are veterans from the Revolutionary War, such as Captain Timothy Tuttle, and the American Civil War, such as William Wade and Leonard Dressel, along with countless others who left their mark on the community.
The burying yard’s enduring role in the area and gradual evolution is visible in the gravestones that remain. Many of the earliest stones were made of sandstone and feature common mid-18th century mortality images such as winged skulls. These carved details, which expanded to include cherubs and weeping willows, reflected popular religious and spiritual motifs. One of the latest such stone was made by local carvers R.T. Wilson & Co. of Morristown to mark the grave of David Condit after his death in 1837. Others were made by carvers from Newark and neighboring states. Most stones of the 19th century were instead made of marble and ultimately shifted to granite as the 20th century approached.
Over the past 140 years, the Whippany Burying Yard has inspired numerous fundraising initiatives to provide for its maintenance. The Whippany Cemetery Association was created in 1914 to oversee the cemetery and preserved the site until 1976 when the property was transferred to the Township of Hanover. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, the Whippany Burying Yard remains home to approximately 370 gravestones, and is today interpreted by the Hanover Township Landmark Commission, allowing the site’s significance to be shared with a new generation of visitors and residents alike.
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