Slate Hill Cemetery -- National Register of Historic Places Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Travel Itinerary

[photo] Slate Hill Cemetery
Photograph from National Register collection

[photo] One of the gravestones found in Slate Hill Cemetery
Photograph courtesy of Sue Miller, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Bureau for Historic Preservation

The Slate Hill Cemetery is possibly the oldest burying grounds in Bucks County. It was established in 1690 and the earliest gravestone is dated 1698. There are a number of unmarked graves, for which dates are unknown. These unmarked graves are believed to be the final resting-places of a number of the early settlers in Lower Makefield. The cemetery was created in three sections: a plot granted by Thomas Janney in 1690; a section granted by Abel Janney in 1721 immediately to the northwest along the Yardley-Morrisville Road; and the last part granted by Joshua Anderson in 1788 further to the northwest along the Yardley-Morrisville Road. Most of the graves are 18th century and represent the early Quaker settlers in the area; the Friends section contains 487 graves, of which 185 are marked. Most of these burials pre-date 1800, according to a Federal Works Project Administration survey sponsored by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission in 1941. The early gravestones in this cemetery are significant examples of early Bucks County gravestones. Three types of markers are found in the Friends section. Over 80 percent are brownstones. Another approximately two dozen markers are wood painted white or wire wickets. The Friends section has the only 17th-century gravestone (dated 1698) in Bucks County. The cemetery also contains the graves of six free African Americans who served in the Northern Army during the Civil War. The dates of burials in the cemetery date from 1698 to 1918, the last of whom is Martha E. White.

The Slate Hill Cemetery is located at Yardley-Morrisville Rd. at Mahlon Dr. in Lower Makefield Township. It is open to the public, there are several entrances. Parking is available along the road.

Comments or Questions

JPJ