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Town Historian Gray Williams called the site “a worthy addition to our (New Castle) landmarks.”
“This is one of the few surviving examples of the private burying grounds that used to be a common feature New Castle family farms,” Williams told the board. “It was been abandoned and it’s the responsibility of the town to maintain it. It took quite a bit of brush clearance to get it looking the way it does now.”
Williams said the graveyard, located near the border of Mount Kisco and New Castle at 442 Armonk Road, is one of five family graveyards in the town that had been “completely neglected.” He and the New Castle Historical Society have now cleaned up the Tompkins and Sarles-Archer family graveyards, leaving three more graveyards in need of makeovers.
“We don’t recommend sites like these for landmark status until they’ve been taken care of,” he said.
The site is in fact living history of the town’s development, Williams said, with roots as deep as the 18th century and family members buried through 1911. A full story of the site has been written by Williams and can be read on NewCastleNOW.org. Board members were very pleased with the new landmark addition and thanked Williams for the Historical Society’s time and efforts.
“We really appreciate all the work you and the Historical Society have put in on this,” Supervisor Susan Carpenter said.
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