Home
Early Cemetery In New Windsor
Some call it the "Sargent Elihu Spear Cemetery."   Most people don't call it anything because they whiz right by it as they drive on busy Route 9W noticing neither the commemorative plaque nor the cemetery which is hidden behind the high road embankment. 

This early cemetery is a hidden gem for boneyard enthusiasts.  Once you find it--which is no small undertaking--you are rewarded with a breathtaking vista of the Hudson, Bannerman Island and Storm King Mountain. 

Warning Reaching this site by car can be treacherous -- Head north on 9W from New Windsor. After passing Silver Spring Road look for the blue historic plaque. You have to pull over quickly on Route 9W. Make sure to check your rear view mirror for large vehicles before performing any tricky traffic maneuvers. When you spot the "Early Cemetery" plaque, you make a hairpin right turn immediately past the blue plaque.

The Eternal Mistake

It's bad enough that poor Elihu Spear lost his life a day after peace was declared in the Revolutionary War;  consider,too,  the sad fate of Leonard D. Nicholl.  It appears that the stone mason was having a "bad chisel day" as he prepared the grave marker for poor Leonard.   Note the "typo" -- the crammed in letter "D"---between Leonard's first and last name.