Pictured above are representatives from Rearick-Carpenter Funeral Home presenting a donation to the board of the Jersey Shore Cemetery for improvements to be made to the cemetery’s Rachel Humes Hepburn Chapel. From left to right are: James Carpenter and Stephanie Wallen of Rearick-Carpenter, Bill Rummings, Jack Wolfe, Patricia Rummings, Connie Davis, Dorian Hollick Myers and Tina Cooney. In the back row are James Stewart and Sherry Hatch.

The Jersey Shore Cemetery, to keep pace with changing public & family attitudes regarding graveside and committal service interments for loved ones, is starting a campaign hoping to enlist area support for their restoration project for the Rachel Humes Hepburn Chapel just inside the cemetery gates.

Over the years attitudes have changed regarding graveside burials and services for casketed and cremated human remains. Many people now prefer to have these services inside a more intimate setting on the cemetery grounds, rather than be at the graveside during inclement weather or colder winter conditions.

With this in mind, renovation of their Chapel will soon begin. A new roof, interior improvements and painting, refurbishing & cleaning of the stained glass along with many other improvements are planned.

The Jersey Shore Cemetery has expanded greatly from its humble beginnings in 1854 when Mark Slonaker donated the original nine and a half acres of his land to establish the cemetery. The land was located near the foot of the hill by the present day Jersey Shore Elementary school. It extended up the hill which was known as Mount Pleasant and contained an original 444 lots, each 16×25 feet in area. Mt. Pleasant Avenue in Jersey Shore bears the name of the hill and was the original entrance to the cemetery.

Dr. Uriah Reed Donated another 10 acres to the west on up the hill in 1861 and by 1863 the cemetery was granted a charter and the Jersey Shore Cemetery Company was formed.

Today the cemetery encompasses 43 acres and includes over 16,000 burials. The two dominate landmarks at the cemetery are Mark Slonaker’s marker near the original area of land he donated and the giant Civil War Memorial, a Corinthian Column, from the old Pennsylvania State House in Harrisburg which was destroyed by fire in 1897. One of the undamaged columns was hauled to Jersey Shore and erected in 1907 and dedicated on May 30, 1908 by Robert W. McCullough, then cemetery president. Today’s cemetery gate was donated by his family and bears his name.

Contributions to help with the restoration project can be made to: Jersey Shore Cemetery, 1103 Locust Street, Jersey Shore, PA 17740 Or call 570-398-1863.