★ DERRY COMMUNITY ONLINE ★

Mt. Hope Cemetery has served the Town of Derry as its principal burial ground for over 150 years. Originally a small family plot associated with the Mt. Hope farm, the cemetery was deeded to the town in 1840 and has expanded several times to its present size of approximately 34 acres. The cemetery is maintained by the Derry Cemetery Commission and the Mt. Hope Trust.

This site is maintained as a public service by the Derry Public Library in cooperation with the Cemetery Commission. Information about interments, historical records, and genealogical research assistance is available by contacting the Cemetery Office or Mr. Michael Hanlon at the library reference desk.

Burial Records Search

Visiting Mt. Hope Cemetery

Hours: Dawn to dusk, daily.
Location: Mt. Hope Avenue, Derry, ME — the cemetery is accessed from Outer Witcham Street, approximately 1.5 miles east of the Derry Town Common.
Cemetery Office: Located near the main gate, open Mon-Fri 9 AM to 3 PM.
Phone: (207) 555-0155
Email: cemetery@derry.me.us
Sexton: Mr. Gerald Wendling

Important: Night visits are prohibited and will be prosecuted under Maine Code 17-A §402. The cemetery gates are locked at sunset. Vehicle access is restricted to the perimeter road; please do not drive on the interior lanes except for funeral processions.

Recent Interments — 1994

The following interments have been recorded at Mt. Hope Cemetery in calendar year 1994. Family members may request additional information from the Cemetery Office.

Note: Interment number 94-096 has been entered without identifying information at the family's request. Records will be amended upon completion of pending paperwork.

Notable Sections

Section A — Founders (1840-1880)

The oldest section of Mt. Hope Cemetery contains the graves of Derry's earliest European settlers, including several members of the families who established the original Mt. Hope farm. Headstones in this section are of regional slate and granite; many have suffered weathering and are now illegible. Several markers have been vandalized on multiple occasions; the Cemetery Commission has repaired or replaced damaged stones where genealogical documentation is available.

"Several stones in Section A bear inscriptions in languages or scripts that the Commission has not been able to identify. The oldest of these predate the cemetery's founding by an undetermined number of years."
— Cemetery Commission Report, 1987

Section D — The Children's Garden

Section D is reserved for the interment of children. The section was established in 1845 and has been expanded four times since. According to records maintained by the Cemetery Office and cross-referenced with the Derry Vital Records archive, approximately 300 children have been buried in Section D since the cemetery's founding — a number which, this curator notes, is significantly disproportionate to the historical population of the town.

The section is bordered by a low iron fence and a single ornamental gate bearing the inscription "They are safe with the Lord." Many of the individual markers are small — some no more than a flat stone bearing initials and a date.

Note for researchers: The interment dates in Section D show distinct clusters at 27-28 year intervals, with the most recent clusters falling in 1957-1958 and 1984-1985. The reasons for this pattern have not been explained in any available record.

Section G — Mass Grave, 1906

Section G is the memorial site for the victims of the Kitchener Ironworks explosion of April 23, 1906, in which 108 people died — including 88 children attending the annual Easter egg hunt on the Ironworks grounds. The memorial consists of 88 small headstones arranged in a circle, with the names and ages of each child carved upon the inner faces. Twenty additional larger markers, for the adult victims, are placed in a semicircle behind the children's stones.

A bronze plaque at the center of the circle reads:

"TO THE CHILDREN OF DERRY, TAKEN FROM US APRIL 23RD, 1906. THEY ARE THE SPRING THAT NEVER CAME."

Section E — Veterans Memorial

Section E commemorates Derry residents who served in the armed forces from the Civil War to the present day. The section is administered jointly with the Derry VFW Post.

Section F — The Hanlon Plot

Section F includes a family plot belonging to descendants of Sergeant William Hanlon, a survivor of the 1930 Black Spot fire. The plot was deeded by the town in recognition of Sergeant Hanlon's service and contains the graves of three generations of the Hanlon family, including the parents of our current Head Librarian.

Historical Notes & Anomalies

The Cemetery Commission maintains, where possible, complete records of interments. However, several anomalies in the historical record bear mention, in the interest of transparency and to assist genealogical researchers:

1. Subsidence. Several sections of the older cemetery have experienced ground subsidence — localized sinking of the soil — and are currently closed to visitors. Engineering surveys are pending. The most pronounced subsidence is observed in Section A (northeast corner) and along the boundary between Sections D and G.
2. Inconsistent records. Comparison of cemetery interment logs with state vital records shows discrepancies. In several instances, burial markers exist for individuals whose deaths are not recorded in state archives, and conversely, some recorded Derry deaths do not appear in Mt. Hope's interment registry. The Commission is unable to account for these discrepancies.
3. Acoustic phenomena. The cemetery office has received 23 inquiries in the past 18 months regarding "sounds" reported from the older sections of the cemetery, particularly Section A and Section D. These reports describe what witnesses variously describe as "voices," "weeping," and "laughter." The Commission attributes these reports to settling earth, normal geological processes, wind through the surrounding pines, and the auditory effects of visitor distress. No further investigation is planned.
4. 1957-58 interments. Records for the period October 1957 through August 1958 are incomplete. Approximately 40 child interments are documented for this period without cause-of-death information; the corresponding Vital Records have been sealed by request of the Town Council (Resolution 94-23).
5. 1984-85 interments. A similar pattern of incomplete records is observed for the period summer 1984 through autumn 1985. Researchers are advised that access to these records is currently restricted pending review.

"Records prior to 1900 may be incomplete. A digitization project is underway in cooperation with the Derry Historical Society (see Historical Society page). Researchers with questions about specific interments are encouraged to contact Mr. Hanlon at the library."

Cemetery Policies & Regulations

Visiting hours. Mt. Hope Cemetery is open from dawn until dusk, every day of the year. Visitors arriving outside these hours will be asked to leave by the Cemetery Sexton or Derry Police Department officers.

Flowers and ornaments. Fresh flowers may be placed on graves at any time. Artificial flowers, glass containers, and personal items are removed by groundskeepers during routine maintenance (typically the first week of each month).

Photography. Personal photography is permitted. Commercial photography requires written permission from the Cemetery Office. Photographs taken in Sections A, D, and G occasionally exhibit unusual optical artifacts; the Commission has no explanation for this and suggests that photographers using older film cameras may wish to bring spare rolls.

Children. Children under 14 should be accompanied by an adult at all times. Children should not enter Section D unsupervised.

Contact & Research

For general inquiries about burial records, plot availability, or to schedule a visit, contact the Cemetery Office:

Mt. Hope Cemetery Office
Mt. Hope Avenue
Derry, ME 04401

Office: (207) 555-0155
Email: cemetery@derry.me.us
Hours: Mon-Fri, 9 AM — 3 PM

For historical and genealogical research, contact Mr. Michael Hanlon at the Derry Public Library reference desk. Mr. Hanlon maintains a cross-referenced index of cemetery records, photographs, and contemporary newspaper accounts dating to the cemetery's founding. Research appointments are recommended.

"Local history is at its most honest in our cemeteries. The names on the stones, taken together, tell a truer story than any official record. I have spent many afternoons here. I encourage anyone seeking to understand this town to begin in Section D."
— M. Hanlon, Head Librarian, October 1994