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First Presbyterian Church of Newtown Cemetery
Elmhurst, Queens County, New York

GPS: 40.735555, -73.877224

Contact:
54-05 Seabury St.
Elmhurst, NY 11373

Published: August 16, 2016
Total records: 313

History

The cemetery at First Presbyterian Church of Newtown no longer exists. It was located where the Georgia Diner and the 7-story brick apartment building now stand, directly across Queens Blvd from the Church grounds.

First Presbyterian Church of Newtown was founded in 1652, the same year English settlers founded the village of Middleburgh (today known as Elmhurst).

The cemetery was located on the other side of Queens Blvd from the church. It's believed the cemetery dated back to 1708. By the late 1800s, very few burials took place, and very few people visited. Horses and cattle from nearby Newtown Creek strayed in to graze. The last burial took place in 1925. Vandals littered and toppled the historic stones.

There were originally 200 graves, some unknown and most very old. A few graves were privately moved. The remainder found, 8 boxes of mixed unidentified remains or 21 identified persons (records aren't clear) were brought to the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn on June 13, 1958 at a special plot located at 51 Prospect Hill. In 1962 the church erected a grey granite stone, 4 ft. x 6 ft. x 1 ft. "In memory of deceased members removed from church cemetery in Elmhurst."

Cemetery Records

• Cemetery Inscriptions from Presbyterian Churchyard, Newtown (37 pages, 2.01 MB), compiled by Josephine C. Frost in 1904