A Place of Peace and History Since 1842

Historic Greenville Cemetery was built in 1842 on land donated by Gilbert Underhill, who also donated the land for the adjoining Greenville Dutch Reformed Church, one of the earliest churches in Westchester. The church, now known as the Greenville Community Church, moved down the road to higher ground in 1958, but the cemetery is still owned and cared for by the church.

Hidden from view and unknown to most of the residents of the area, the cemetery was there when Greenville was a hamlet of farmers and summer vacationers escaping the heat of New York City. It was there before a developer created the name “Edgemont” for a new community of homes. And it was there long before a high school was built on one side and a mini-mall on the other.

The cemetery suffered a tremendous setback in 1974, during construction of the nearby mini-mall, when someone vandalized the premises and damaged over 90 grave markers. Many of these were granite markers with names like Underhill, Seely and Tompkins, the same names as some of our local streets and schools.

In 2012, following decades of neglect, a dedicated team was formed to find a way to restore this property to its former stateliness and beauty. We began by clearing back the weeds that had taken over the grounds. We then had several fallen trees and branches removed. In the course of 2014, with the generous help of Breath of Spring Landscaping and Eben-Ezer Tree Service, we were able to lift up and restore many of the vandalized monuments.

Q and A

Where is the Cemetery located? The Cemetery sits in between the Mini-Mall at 590 Central Avenue and the Edgemont High School football field in the Town of Greenburgh, New York.

What is Greenville? Most people who live in the area know that there’s a church and a firehouse named Greenville, but few know that Greenville was a real place in the 1800’s, just like Hastings and Dobbs Ferry. It was a cluster of businesses surrounded by farms at the intersection of today’s Central Avenue and Old Army Road. A grand hotel, the Greenville Hotel, stood across the street from the Cemetery until 1925.

Where is Greenville Church? The Greenville Dutch Reformed Church was formed in 1842. The old church building stood next to the Cemetery for well over a century on the site of today’s Mini-Mall. After being used as a funeral home, it burned down in the 1960’s. The church’s growing congregation had sold the old property in the 1950’s, retaining ownership of the Cemetery, and built a larger church atop Ardsley Road hill. Today the church is known as Greenville Community Church.

Join Us!

Be a part of history.

The Cemetery has faced significant challenges in recent decades. Vandalism and neglect brought it to a state of ruin before our efforts began in 2012. Great progress has been made, but there is still work to be done. Some of the oldest gravestones still need to be repaired and righted.

The decrepit chain -link fence that partly surrounds the cemetery is inadequate and leaves the cemetery vulnerable to further abuse. We continue to deal with invasive weeds and shrubs, along with trash left by people strolling the path between the school fields and Burger King