Conservation, Preservation and Restoration at Prospect Hill Cemetery Nantucket, Massachusetts

Beginning in 2004, with grants from the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) and donations, the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association made improvements to more than 2 miles of roads and fences, added new plantings and trees, installed a new irrigation system for both sections of the cemetery and completed a restoration of the tool house.

*2006, Shelly Sass, an architectural conservator, held a workshop on historic gravestone cleaning at Prospect Hill Cemetery as part of Preservation Month. Funded by the Nantucket Preservation Trust and hosted by the Maria Mitchell Association, a demonstration on the proper cleaning techniques for monuments was conducted at the Mitchell family lot 411. Please visit the photo gallery to view before and after photographs of  Maria Mitchell’s marker.

* 2009, Prospect Hill Cemetery Association conducted a stone-by-stone assessment of markers and monuments in the older sections of the cemetery. This survey by Ivan Myjer, of Building and Monument Conservation, was completed in 2010. It was funded with a grant courtesy of the Nancy Sayles Day Foundation. The CPC approved the use of funds from a grant to begin restoration and repair of monuments and markers according to the priorities established in Ivan Myjer’s 2010 survey. There were 175 stones that needed to be reset or treated. They were prioritized,  with those needing immediate care addressed first. In the fall of 2011, Neil Patterson, Inc. began work to reset and restore the monuments. To date 24 Priority 1 monuments were reset and 86 of 99 Priority 1 stones were treated. The remaining Priority 1 stones and 52 more in lower priority will be treated when funds become available.

*2012, Prospect Hill Cemetery Association published Tuck’t In: A Walking Tour of Historic Prospect Hill Cemetery Nantucket, MA. The book contains numerous accounts of many well known and lesser known Nantucketers. The stories are incredibly rich in history, lore and insight into the island and its people. Prospect Hill Cemetery Association believes it is important to preserve our island history by recounting the stories of people in our historic burial ground. The Prospect Hill Cemetery Association published this book with the help of donations and grants. The proceeds from our book go back to the cemetery for further restoration, conservation and preservation.

*June 9, 2012, The Maria Mitchell Association and Prospect Hill Cemetery Association held a Historic Preservation Workshop: Preserving the Monuments of Our Ancestors: How to Properly Clean Historic Gravestones. This class was a hands-on workshop for participants to learn how to properly clean stone monuments using the Mitchell Family stones as the example. The workshop taught how to properly clean family stone monuments after first getting the permission from the cemetery superintendent.

On July 10, 2013, Jascin Leonardo Finger, curator at the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association’s Mitchell House taught students from Preservation Institute Nantucket (PIN) how to properly clean stone monuments using William Hadwen and Eunice Starbuck Hadwen’s markers at Prospect Hill Cemetery.In previous years Jascin has demonstrated proper cleaning techniques on Mitchell Family stones.
Please visit our Photo Gallery to view Jascin and the PIN students work. To view images of the stone monument cleaning please visit the Photo Gallery of our website.

 



Preserving the Monuments of Our Ancestors: How to Properly Clean Historic Gravestones
June 9, 2012 from 10:00am-12:00pm @ Mitchell House & Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Preserving the Monuments of Our Ancestors: How to Properly Clean Historic Gravestones
June 8, 2013 from 10:00am-12:00pm @ Mitchell House & Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Preserving the Monuments of Our Ancestors: How to Properly Clean Historic Gravestones
June 7, 2014 from 10:00am-12:00pm @ Mitchell House & Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Preserving the Monuments of Our Ancestors: How to Properly Clean Historic Gravestones
June 18, 2016 from 10:00am-12:00pm @ Mitchell House & Prospect Hill Cemetery.

 

 









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