Bronxville Cemetery; A Quiet Tribute in a Quiet Corner of Town
June 15, 2011: Without the sound of bagpipes or a marching band, Bronxville's Cub Scouts paid a quiet tribute two days before Memorial Day by planting 148 American flags in a quiet corner unknown to many Bronxville residents. The site is the Bronxville Cemetery, which has been a final resting place for hundreds of village families for more than a century.
The cemetery is tucked into 1.8 acres behind Bronxville Village Hall, bounded by the Department of Public Works truck depot on Palumbo Place, Midland Avenue, and Alden Place. No sign indicates the location, and the cemetery is reached only by a driveway adjacent to a two-story frame house occupied by the manager, Dr. David A. Weir, and his wife, Dr. Bonnie E. Weir, the third generation of caretakers.
The cemetery has no connection to any Bronxville church. It was moved to Bronxville in 1852 from Manhattan by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (Covenanter Synod).
The cemetery's history was written by David Weir in Building a Suburban Village, the history published for Bronxville's centennial in 1998. A teacher at Nyack College, he is the son of Dr. Richard Weir, chairman of the English department at Pelham High School; his wife, Jean Crawford, was a teacher at Bronxville Elementary School. She was also the daughter of earlier caretakers of the cemetery, John and Alice Crawford, emigrants from Scotland.
The place was even more obscure before 1947, when bulldozers cleared a wooded hill at the corner of Palumbo Place and Midland to make room for the Bronxville firehouse.
Most of the several hundred tombstones are modest, but a handful of obelisks tower above the rest, and the cemetery also contains two locked crypts. Among the notables buried there is Lewis Bowman, the celebrated architect of many Bronxville homes. His is an austere monument containing only his name, the word "architect," and the years of his birth and death.
Among the more poignant markers is that of a 17-year-old, so weather-beaten that the words cannot be read. The gravestone of a John A. Adams notes that he was a presenter in the Reformed Presbyterian Church.
If the cemetery is unknown to many village residents, it is known to funeral directors, who mention it as an option among burial sites to bereaved families. The cemetery is non-denominational, but applications must be reviewed by the church.
The Bronxville Cemetery is about to be somewhat better known because it is included in a major new three-volume publication, The Cemeteries of Westchester County, by Patrick Raferty, published by the Westchester County Historical Society.
Government & History Directory
Bronxville is a quaint village (one square mile) located just 16 miles north of midtown Manhattan (roughly 30 minutes on the train) and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is known as a premier community with an excellent public school (K-12) and easy access to Manhattan. Bronxville offers many amenities including an attractive business district, a hospital (Lawrence Hospital), public paddle and tennis courts, fine dining at local restaurants, two private country clubs and a community library.
While the earliest settlers of Bronxville date back to the first half of the 18th century, the history of the modern suburb of Bronxville began in 1890 when William Van Duzer Lawrence purchased a farm and commissioned the architect, William A. Bates, to design a planned community of houses for well-known artists and professionals that became a thriving art colony. This community, now called Lawrence Park, is listed on the National register of Historic Places and many of the homes still have artists’ studios. A neighborhood association within Lawrence Park called “The Hilltop Association” keeps this heritage alive with art shows and other events for neighbors.
Bronxville offers many charming neighborhoods as well as a variety of living options for residents including single family homes, town houses, cooperatives and condominiums. One of the chief benefits of living in “the village” is that your children can attend the Bronxville School.
The Bronxville postal zone (10708, known as “Bronxville PO”) includes the village of Bronxville as well as the Chester Heights section of Eastchester, parts of Tuckahoe and the Lawrence Park West, Cedar Knolls, Armour Villa and Longvale sections of Yonkers. Many of these areas have their own distinct character. For instance, the Armour Villa section has many historic homes and even has its own newsletter called “The Villa Voice” which reports on neighborhood news.
Village of Bronxville Administrative Offices
337-6500
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Police Department
337-0500
Open 24 hours
Bronxville Parking Violations
337-2024
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Fire Deparment
793-6400
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