103-Year-Old Long Island Cemetery To Undergo Restoration Work

ROSLYN, NY — A 103-year-old cemetery in East Hills is set to undergo restoration work this spring.

With the support of a $10,000 grant, the Roslyn Landmark Society and the Town of North Hempstead say they will launch a multi-phased project plan that will preserve Townsend Cemetery.

According to officials, the plan will:

• address the urgent need to survey and record the cemetery;
• provide recommendations for its conservation treatment and restoration; and
• protect the marks and headstones that are vulnerable to damage and deterioration due to weather.

The $10,000 was issued by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, a Long Island-based organization dedicated to the study and preservation of history.

"The Town is extremely grateful to the Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation for supporting the Town of North Hempstead and the Roslyn Landmark Society in our collective efforts to restore the Townsend Cemetery," said Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth. "This funding will go a long way in allowing us to continue our mission to preserve this significant historical landmark."

The Townsend Cemetery dates to 1790 and is the burying ground for 33 early English Quaker settlers in Roslyn, according to the Roslyn Landmark Society. Among the descendants of the buried is Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell University.

The earliest internment was November 1790, and the last burial was November 1994. Currently, nine headstones and five footstones are visible on the ground.