Pepacton Cemetery

In observance of Veterans Day, we joined with elected officials from Delaware County, local historians and veterans to mark the completed restoration of Pepacton Cemetery. Several hundred gravestones were cleaned, repaired and reset over the past two years as part of a project to rehabilitate the decades-old cemetery. In the 1950s and 1960s, more than 400 deceased were removed from local burial grounds and reinterred at Pepacton Cemetery to allow for the construction of Pepacton and Cannonsville reservoirs. The city-owned cemetery was rededicated in their memory during a flag-raising ceremony.

Workers began to rehabilitate the cemetery in early 2016, and the final improvements were completed this fall. A total of 305 headstones, footstones and monuments were cleaned, repaired and/or reset.

Special attention was also paid to the gravesites of military veterans. It was previously known that 16 military veterans were buried at Pepacton Cemetery, because their gravestones noted their military service. During the course of the restoration project, local historians discovered through genealogical research that an additional 12 veterans were buried in the cemetery. The 28 veterans identified in the cemetery include those who fought in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, served as Union soldiers in the Civil War, or fought in the Spanish-American War. Each of the veteran gravesites was adorned with a solid bronze flag holder and an emblem to denote the war in which each person fought. The cemetery is also the final resting place for the original settlers of some towns, including Cannonsville and Trout Creek. A total of 426 deceased are buried at Pepacton Cemetery.

The Delaware County ancestors that are buried in Pepacton Cemetery deserve a final resting place that is dignified and well maintained. The City assumed responsibility for this cemetery more than six decades ago, and it is important that we invest resources in its upkeep just as we do with our water supply infrastructure. More information and photos are available here.