Cemetery Tour Will Bring Stories Of Freehold History To Life

FREEHOLD, NJ — The historic Maplewood Cemetery has many tales to tell. And two Freehold historians, Nolan Higgins and Kevin Coyne, will lead a tour of the cemetery on Sunday so history buffs can learn about the people buried there.

Former Mayor Higgins and Borough Historian Kevin Coyne will meet up with those attending at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Participants will walk from grave to grave and hear stories about the people interred there, from a Revolutionary War soldier to the manager of Bruce Springsteen’s first band, Coyne said in a news release.

There will be stops along the way at burial sites of Civil War heroes, a governor and the people for whom borough streets are named. More information is at the Freehold Boro Centennial Facebook site.

Coyne, a fifth-generation Freehold native, says the borough has a wealth of history dating back before the Revolutionary War, through the Civil war and today.

He said the tour was intentionally scheduled after Halloween.

"This isn't a 'ghost tour,'" he said. The emphasis is on history.

He and Higgins, a family funeral home proprietor, went over the tour route earlier this week to prepare for the event.

He said Maplewood is a not a church cemetery and dates to 1850.

Those on the tour will see "the graves of the people many streets in the town are named after - old family names," Coyne said.

Maplewood Cemetery is at 169 W. Main St., just west of the intersection with Route 9.

Participants will meet in the older section, on the north side of the road – the side that Freehold Raceway Mall is on. There are two driveways into that section of the cemetery. Pull into either of the driveways and park there. We will meet in the section between the two driveways.

And Coyne advises the visitors to wear walking shoes.