Cemetery guides

Every cemetery sets its own rules, and they differ more than most families expect — what you may plant, how large a bed is allowed, when seasonal décor has to come out, and who to call when you have a question about a lot. Some are run by the town; a number of the oldest on the South Shore are private.

These pages collect what we know about the individual cemeteries we work in: the history of the grounds, the published rules as we last checked them, and what those rules mean for keeping a stone and a plot looking cared for. We are not affiliated with any of them.

If the cemetery you are looking for is not here yet, the town pages list the grounds we work in across all 25 towns we serve, and we are glad to answer a question about any of them by phone.

Cohasset

• Cohasset Central Cemetery On the National Register since 2002. Three centuries of slate, marble, and granite above Little Harbor, a published burial database, and seasonal access from April 1 to November 30.

Duxbury

• Mayflower Cemetery Town-run since 1787, forty-plus acres beside the First Parish Church. The most detailed rulebook we have written up — nothing at all is permitted around a flush marker.

Hingham

• Hingham Cemetery Thirteen acres beside the Old Ship Church, burials since about 1672. The strictest rules we work with — fresh flowers for one week only, and outside work requires Management's written consent.
• High Street Cemetery Established 1681 and privately administered. Annual plantings only, a 12-inch bed in front of the stone, and firm seasonal removal deadlines.
• St. Paul Cemetery Hingham's Catholic cemetery, on Hersey Street rather than the parish address. About 5,600 burials and a searchable parish database with map pins and veteran status.

Milton

• Milton Cemetery The town's only cemetery since 1672 — 102 acres on the National Register, colonial slate through Victorian marble, and a Level II accredited arboretum.

Norwell

• First Parish Cemetery Graves from 1724 and a good deal of North River shipbuilding history. Full to new burials, shaded enough that stones green up fast, and the most permissive planting rules we have written up.

Scituate

• St. Mary's Cemetery Parish-run, on Meeting House Lane. Annuals or perennials in a 12-inch bed, no mulch or stone, and a published May 1–November 30 flag season.

West Bridgewater

• Pine Hill Cemetery Privately run, on North Main Street. Burials predating 1850, close to 10,000 indexed memorials, and no published rules — call the office before planting.

Weymouth

• St. Francis Xavier Cemetery A parish cemetery on Route 53 since 1862, with close to 9,500 burials and its own records search. Not one of the eight cemeteries under the town's Cemetery Commission.