This past year has proved pivotal for the rehabilitation of the Western Cemetery. As a result, we Stewards of the Western Cemetery have the funds, contractors, tools, and corps of volunteers to focus almost completely this coming year on repairing gravestones.
Here we present the past year by the numbers:
$250,000. The amount raised to fund new and restored fences, to remove stumps and dead trees, construct new gravel paths along Western Prom and Vaughan Street, and erect a toolshed with water and electricity.
$250,000+. The value of volunteer hours at $40 an hour over the past five years, meaning the total value invested locally in improving Western Cemetery already exceeds half a million dollars!
6,501 burials. Documented by our trustee Kip deSerres.
2,000+ photographs. To document repairs and provide scenes for an anticipated book, mostly taken by trustee Bill Shumaker.
1,904 burials. Listed on findagrave.com with a photographed stone.
1,475 feet (more than a quarter mile!) 5-foot-wide gravel path. Constructed along the Western Prom, requiring spreading 100 tons of stone dust and crushed stone.
1,369 bricks re-laid. To reconstruct 75 feet of sidewalk with 138 feet of historic roll-top edging, disrupted by stump removals.
1,475 feet of new fencing. Along the Western Promenade.
100s of swallowwort and garlic mustard. Invasives dug out.
508 remains documented. As removed later to other cemeteries.
200+ financial donors. Donations can be made at our website, WesternCemetery.ME. Thank you!
100 plus volunteers involved. Thank you, too!
51 gravestones and bollards. Cleaned, re-set, or repaired.
29 native shrubs and plugs. Wildflowers planted.
23 tours. With more than 100 attendees.
13 tons of loam. Delivered and spread in low spots, to fill stump holes, and to lift unearthed bases.
6 different mortars. Used to repair grave markers and bases. (Two cost almost $300 per bag! Volunteers learn when to use each!).
5 dead trees. Removed with countless dead branches also removed.
4 new tools. A tripod, chain hoist, angle grinder, and diamond-bit corer—bought and used for the first time.
3 massive stumps. All removed.
3 entry signs. Each moved.
2 portable sources of electricity used. A donated generator and an electric-powered truck.
1 new pamphlet holder. Find it placed on the Western Prom side.
1 handrail. Placed on the concrete steps for the first time.
0 leaves removed. To allow build-up of forest litter to improve the health of the cemetery’s nearly 500 trees.
What to Expect in 2026
$15,000 needed. To cover annual cost of operations: mortars and other materials, supplies, insurance, fees, and hiring professional conservator Joe Ferannini for the heaviest, most technical jobs.
1,025 gravestones. Known to have existed but which are not now visible, some of which we expect to unearth this year.
1,000+ volunteer hours. Expected to repair gravestones, document work, take before and after photographs, continue research into those buried there, plant native wildflowers, remove invasives, and care for the trees and grounds.
812 feet of new gravel path. To be constructed along the cemetery’s Vaughan Street edge.
210 feet of trenches. To be excavated for electricity and water to the toolshed.
169-square-foot toolshed. To be erected on existing gravel pad.
32 feet of new steel fencing. To complete Western Prom edge of the cemetery.
30 feet of restored wrought-iron fence. To be installed in cemetery’s northwest corner.
6 new, repaired, or removed signs.
2 broken wall sections. To be repaired.
1 big smile. On the faces of the volunteer community for all the work accomplished in the year together.
