Volunteers needed at Mercer Cemetery

There will be a free hands-on workshop on repairing gravestones that have fallen over due to large tree limbs falling on them, mother nature, and vandalism, on October 26^th from 9 am – 5 pm.

About 500 of roughly 4,000 gravestones need some kind of work. Nationally acclaimed gravestone restoration expert Jonathan Appell of Atlas Preservation will be conducting this workshop.  Volunteers are all asked to spend two days in the future working on the gravestones in Mercer Cemetery during volunteer days in the spring.

Mercer Cemetery, which dates back to 1845, holds the remains of many founding fathers of Trenton and early mayors. Many folks who originally built the houses in Mill Hill are buried there as well. As you stroll through this calm oasis in the middle of the city you will come across many familiar names that are prominent on street signs throughout the city.  There are over a 100 Civil War Veterans buried there, many in unmarked graves.  John Beech, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and former resident of Mill Hill, is buried there as well as over 8,000 ordinary people, some of whom have extraordinary stories.

Grace Williams, a young Mill Hill resident who cares about the city where she was born, restored the center circle of the cemetery as her Eagle Scout project. The Board is working hard on getting the cemetery reopened. It is a calm, peaceful oasis in the midst of downtown Trenton. A place to relax and enjoy as the Victorians did in the early years of the cemetery. 

You are invited to help in getting this valuable resource opened by working on some of the gravestones, many of which are a hazard. After the workshop you will be prepared to participate in restoration on scheduled volunteer days. Water and lunch will be provided. To register, send an email to: MercerCemeteryTrenton@gmail.com or call 609.802.3894. Leave your name, phone number, and email.