The Edinburg Historical Society will meet on Tuesday, August 15 at 7 p.m. at the Edinburg Hill Cemetery on Military Road.

Edinburg Historian Priscilla Edwards said the first settlers arrived in Edinburg in the late 1780s and naturally discovered the need for cemeteries even before schools. Some of the earliest burials were established on a family’s own farm while in other instances a landowner would set aside a sandy plot of land for a community cemetery. The landowner would sell off burial plots to his neighbors as needed – making extra money to supplement his income. The first recorded burial in the Edinburg Hill Cemetery was in 1802 Little Alfred Perry, two or three years old, son of James Perry.

Military veterans are scattered throughout our cemeteries. Each cemetery has graves only identified by field stones. You can only guess who these people were and when they died. Field stones were used when families could not afford a regular cemetery marker or if there were no family members left to mark the site.

Following the tour of the Edinburg Hill Cemetery members will congregate at the Edinburg Community Center for a meeting and refreshments.