Old Hadley Cemetery

The Old Hadley Cemetery in Hadley, Massachusetts, is one of the town's oldest burial grounds, located near the historic center of the community. Established during the early years of Hadley's settlement, the cemetery contains the graves of many of the town's founders, early colonial families, veterans, and civic leaders. Its collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century gravestones provides a valuable record of the people who shaped the history of the Connecticut River Valley.

The cemetery was laid out around the time Hadley was settled in 1659 and incorporated in 1661, with some of its earliest burials dating to that same period. Among those buried there is John Webster, a former governor of Connecticut who died in Hadley in 1661. Over the following centuries, the cemetery grew into the town's principal burial ground and became known for its historic gravestones, including examples carved by early Massachusetts stonecutters such as Joseph Nash. Today, Old Hadley Cemetery remains an important historic site that preserves the memory of generations of Hadley residents and offers insight into colonial New England life.