cemetery

Office and Mailing Address: 3 Mill Road, Rhinebeck, NY 12572. Office Hours: Mondays 9:00 am to 11:00 am
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Entrance to Historic Cemetery: 16 Mill Road, Rhinebeck, NY 
Entrance to Grasmere Cemetery and Natural Burial Ground: 55 Mill Road, Rhinebeck, NY 

The Town Cemetery is open to the public year-round during daylight hours. The Town Board makes final decisions concerning the Cemetery based on advice and recommendations on operational and maintenance matters from the Cemetery Committee. The cemetery is also supported by the Friends of Rhinebeck Cemetery, Inc., a not for profit organization working to promote and optimize the history, design and ecology of the cemeteries under the Town of Rhinebeck’s jurisdiction.

​Conventional and Natural burial plots are available for purchase according to the most current fee schedule. For burial or plot purchase, please contact Suzanne Kelly at cemetery@rhinebeckny.gov or (845) 876-3961. For questions regarding the grounds please call our Groundskeeper, Daniel Imperati at (845) 876-3961. . Please see below for more information on our Natural Burial Ground, including directions.

Here are the Cemetery rules and regulations.
Here are the Natural Burial Ground Grave Marker Rules

Suzanne Kelly, Cemetery Administrator
Daniel Imperati, Groundskeeper
Town Board Liaison: Councilperson Ed Roberts

Rhinebeck's natural burial ground

About natural burial

The Natural Burial Ground at the Town of Rhinebeck Cemetery was opened in 2014 and is only the second municipal natural burial ground in New York State. It is nestled back from historic Mill Road, adjacent to the Grasmere section of the cemetery, and is set in a young hardwood forest on land that once served as pasture to the Grasmere Estate. 

​Directions to the Natural Burial Ground
The Natural Burial Ground is located on Mill Road, ¼ mile from the Route 9 intersection.  Turn onto the paved loop road of the Grasmere cemetery. A sign at the rear of the loop road marks the entrance to the Natural Burial Ground. Parking is anywhere along the loop road. No vehicles permitted within the Natural Burial Ground.

For more information, plot purchase, general questions regarding the natural burial ground, or to schedule a tour please contact Suzanne Kelly. cemetery@rhinebeckny.gov or (845) 876-3961

Rhinebeck's Natural Burial Ground in the news
Yes! Magazine
The Observer
The Journal News

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Geneology and Records Requests:
 
Please email skelly@rhinebeckny.gov for all geneology and records requests. 
 
All of the extant Rhinebeck Cemetery Association plot sales, burial records and meeting minutes have been scanned, thanks to a 2021 New York State Archives grant. These records are not a comprehensive listing of all plot sales and burials at the Town of Rhinebeck Cemetery, only copies of the historic ledgers, the originals of which are now preserved at the cemetery in archival boxes and a fireproof safe. These scans are not organized in any particular order, but are word searchable. You can find those scans here: 

Natural, or green, burial is a way of caring for the dead that promotes the natural decomposition of the body with minimal environmental impact. Its ecological aims are to conserve natural resources, reduce carbon emissions, protect worker health and restore and preserve habitat. The Natural Burial Ground is certified by the Green Burial Council. 

NATURAL BURIAL GROUND 
​GRAVE MARKER REQUIREMENTS 

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