The Old Methodist Cemetery in W. Long Branch, NJ

Hi, my name is Nancy. A group of us are trying to revitalize the Old Methodist Cemetery that has been abandoned. It's 3 separate cemeteries in one location, about 10 acres. Perpetual funds ran out many years ago. The Methodist Church across the street did start mowing their part last year again at significant cost. It is difficult to hire a mowing company because of so many headstones to go around. Especially, with some that have fallen over. We rented a mower hog last summer that cut through a lot of the brush. It took over 6 hours to do the front section. Someone had to go ahead & point out the headstones so we didn't hit & ruin them. There are a few families that come & take care of their family plots. Understandably, many families are no longer in the area to help & may not be aware that this cemetery is abandoned.

Last Fall we had a clean up day with many volunteers. A group of Monmouth University students came out on this rainy day to help. They were a great help! We would like to do this again this June. There are still many trees & branches that need to be cut away from headstones. As they are pushing over & damaging the stones. Some stones need to be righted & can weigh several hundred pounds. This would need to be done with professionals & special equipment. I have been able to repair some of the smaller stones. And also cleaning them so you can read them again. Of course this all takes time & money. Which our group of volunteers don't mind doing plus putting out some of our own money. We could revitalize this cemetery more quickly with funds to hire a few contractors.

I would love to raise enough money to start a new perpetual fund to maintain the cemetery for years to come.

You can see the workers in some pictures. Also, a pic of how the cemetery looked back in the day. And a pic of the New Era monument where the shipwrecked Germans are buried trying to come to America.