Where native tribes once warred, expansion of historic Montauk cemetery could be in the works
Elise Prado, the new chair of the board of trustees for Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk, has presented a proposal to add more burial spaces on the historic grounds. Credit: John Roca
It can take some convincing for Elise Prado to persuade people to walk through Montauk’s Fort Hill Cemetery.
“I say, 'You won’t understand it until you come here,' " she explained recently from a bluff overlooking Fort Pond and Fort Pond Bay.
Prado, 69, appreciates both the beauty of the location and its ties to the past in a place some might find morbid.
The lifelong Montauk resident recently became chair of the board of trustees that oversees the cemetery. It's located on property East Hampton Town bought in the early 1980s to block development.
Last week, Prado presented a proposal to the town board to open a new plot with three sections for burials.
The plan, which the town board would have to approve, also would include construction of a columbarium niche wall where ashes of people who have been cremated can be stored.
That work would be put out for bid.
The niche wall would complement the original columbarium built when the cemetery first opened. All 288 spaces there have been accounted for, Prado said.
While the land formally became a cemetery in 1991, former board chair John McDonald said its history dates back centuries.
"It's been a cemetery since the 1600s," said McDonald, 68, who was chair for 30 years before recently passing the position to Prado.
The Montauk native, who retired last year as a bank manager, said he was fortunate to serve as a trustee as someone who always has had interest in local history.
"It was great that I was able to have a lot to say as to how it all worked out," McDonald said of the historic property.
The land was the site of a 1653 raid by the Narragansett tribe of New England on the local Montaukett tribe and is known as Massacre Valley.
An undisturbed section of the approximately 27-acre cemetery is sacred burial land with Native American remains. Another section is reserved for descendants of the Montauketts who are residents of East Hampton Town.
A large white quartz rock that once was the center of tribal activity rests in the middle of the cemetery.
Known as Council Rock, it "serves as a memorial to the many tribal members buried nearby, and as the historic heart of the Montaukett tribal organization," a marker reads.
The proposed plot would provide 300 new spaces for burials, with the first sections to be located on the opposite side of Fort Hill Road from the main cemetery grounds. Fifty people already are on a waiting list, Prado said.
The cemetery board chair said she expects a “long and slow” process for the new niche wall. She is unsure of a projected cost, as the engineering plan must be put out for bids.
The trustees have a budget from the town to operate and maintain the cemetery — $43,850 this year, which mostly covers maintenance.
To preserve a sense of parkland, the cemetery doesn't have tombstones, but flat grave markers.
“Not a bad resting place for those who have left us,” East Hampton Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said after Prado's presentation to the town board.
It can take some convincing for Elise Prado to persuade people to walk through Montauk’s Fort Hill Cemetery.
“I say, 'You won’t understand it until you come here,' " she explained recently from a bluff overlooking Fort Pond and Fort Pond Bay.
Prado, 69, appreciates both the beauty of the location and its ties to the past in a place some might find morbid.
The lifelong Montauk resident recently became chair of the board of trustees that oversees the cemetery. It's located on property East Hampton Town bought in the early 1980s to block development.
Last week, Prado presented a proposal to the town board to open a new plot with three sections for burials.
The plan, which the town board would have to approve, also would include construction of a columbarium niche wall where ashes of people who have been cremated can be stored.
That work would be put out for bid.
The niche wall would complement the original columbarium built when the cemetery first opened. All 288 spaces there have been accounted for, Prado said.
While the land formally became a cemetery in 1991, former board chair John McDonald said its history dates back centuries.
"It's been a cemetery since the 1600s," said McDonald, 68, who was chair for 30 years before recently passing the position to Prado.
The Montauk native, who retired last year as a bank manager, said he was fortunate to serve as a trustee as someone who always has had interest in local history.
"It was great that I was able to have a lot to say as to how it all worked out," McDonald said of the historic property.
Montauk's Fort Hill Cemetery is the site of a 1653 raid by the Narragansett tribe of New England on the local Montaukett Tribe. Credit: John Roca
The land was the site of a 1653 raid by the Narragansett tribe of New England on the local Montaukett tribe and is known as Massacre Valley.
An undisturbed section of the approximately 27-acre cemetery is sacred burial land with Native American remains. Another section is reserved for descendants of the Montauketts who are residents of East Hampton Town.
A large white quartz rock that once was the center of tribal activity rests in the middle of the cemetery.
Known as Council Rock, it "serves as a memorial to the many tribal members buried nearby, and as the historic heart of the Montaukett tribal organization," a marker reads.
The proposed plot would provide 300 new spaces for burials, with the first sections to be located on the opposite side of Fort Hill Road from the main cemetery grounds. Fifty people already are on a waiting list, Prado said.
The cemetery board chair said she expects a “long and slow” process for the new niche wall. She is unsure of a projected cost, as the engineering plan must be put out for bids.
The trustees have a budget from the town to operate and maintain the cemetery — $43,850 this year, which mostly covers maintenance.
To preserve a sense of parkland, the cemetery doesn't have tombstones, but flat grave markers.
“Not a bad resting place for those who have left us,” East Hampton Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said after Prado's presentation to the town board.
Fort Hill Cemetery
- East Hampton Town bought the land in the early 1980s
- An undisturbed section features sacred burial of Native American bones
- The site was home of a 1650s raid by the Narragansett tribe of New England against the Montaukett tribe
Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
