Noroton River Cemetery
History & Background
Originally known as the Noroton River Burying Ground, this is Darien’s oldest burying ground. It is one of the few remaining relics of the Noroton River settlement, where, in the late 1600’s, residents of a growing Stamford town first moved eastward across the Noroton River. This was a community burying ground; the Puritan settlers of Stamford did not follow the Anglican practice of burying the dead in the consecrated ground of a churchyard. Like so many endeavors of ancient communities, this burying ground has seen difficult times. If burial records were kept in the earliest days, they are long lost.
Today there are grave markers from the mid-1700’s in the cemetery, but there undoubtedly were earlier ones, long since obliterated or lost. By the end of the 18’th century, the cemetery was in serious disrepair. A neighboring farmer was pasturing his cows in it, and the heavy beasts had uprooted and broken several gravestones by leaning against them or by using them as scratching posts. The cows were banned, and in the early 1800s the community subscribed funds to build a wall around the grounds.
The graveyard sits where the Noroton River meets and empties into Holly Pond. It is the final resting spot for over 400 people including veterans of the Revolutionary War, children who died of smallpox and some of Darien’s founding families.
Based on The Story of Darien Connecticut
by Museum of Darien Historian Ken Reiss
Trail Marker
Click to enlarge
