Gifford Cemetery | Hamilton Cemetery.
On the east side of Cemetery Road, opposite — and virtually indistinguishable from — Town Cemetery, are two burial grounds totaling 4.2 acres, that were once privately owned. The former Hamilton Cemetery, toward the north end of the road, was established in 1833. It has only 92 lots. (And no Hamiltons). Much larger, the former Gifford Cemetery surrounds Hamilton like a fat L. Established in 1818, it has 251 lots and at least 27 Giffords, including the namesake of the Gifford House. By far the most important monument in either cemetery commemorates Provincetown’s fallen in the Civil War, known to New Englanders as the Great Rebellion. The municipal government assumed “care, maintenance and control” of the Gifford and Hamilton grounds by vote of Town Meeting on 11 March 1963.
An enormously welcome illustrated guide, Provincetown’s Historic Cemeteries and Memorials, was published in 2017 by the Provincetown Cemetery Commission, under the chairmanship of Richard Brayton Olson. The author and researcher was Amy Whorf McGuiggan, and Lynne Martin was the mapmaker.
Building Provincetown 2020 is adapting its map nomenclature and key numbers to make the two guides complementary.
Area H is the former Hamilton Cemetery.
Area G is the former Gifford Cemetery.
¶ Last updated on 3 January 2018. ¶ Image from Google.