A Re-Visit to the Gregory Cemetery

posted by Brian Vangor
Town of Carmel Historian
The Gregory Cemetery is located in Carmel at the end of a peninsula that extends from West Shore Drive and Stebbins Road, east, out into the Croton Falls Reservoir. The associated settlement, Gregory’s Mills, located near Croton Falls Road and Horsepound Road, was displaced a century ago by the construction of the reservoir.

The peninsula is owned by New York City and, as reservoir land, its access is controlled by the NYC DEP. So, it requires permission from the DEP to make the trek to the cemetery. The journey begins at the bottom of Stebbins Road, at West Shore, where you can pick up the dirt portion of Stebbins Road. The trail is pretty obvious, although, the occasional downed tree necessitates a few detours. After about 15 minutes of eastward hiking, Stebbins ends at the north–south Horsepound Road. At the intersection, there is a long stone wall which curves to the left (north) onto Horsepound. Follow the wall around and continue north on Horsepound Road. After a few minutes, I turned right and walked up the gentle slope of the hill to find the cemetery. There is no obvious trail and it is not readily visible from Horsepound Road.

The cemetery is approximately 110ft by 100ft and surrounded by a short stone wall. The entrance is on the north wall. All visible graves are located in the east portion of the cemetery. There is a small collection of stones in both the northeast and southeast corners. The northeast corner includes Esther Williams, d. Aug 17, 1822. Daniel Gregory of the 7th Dutchess NY Militia (d. 1817) and his wife, Elizabeth, and son, Lewis, are in the southeast corner. Between the two small groups of stones are approximately 60 fieldstone shards which are not identifiable. Some of these may have been moved here from cemeteries now submerged.

Photo Index:

01 Map of the peninsula.
02 Entrance to the Gregory Cemetery looking south. All graves in left (east) side of cemetery.
03 Graves in NE corner of cemetery.
04 Grave of Daniel Gregory (SE corner).
05 Graves is SE corner of cemetery (Gregory Family).

All photos taken on Sept 3, 2009. References: Mike Troy - TCHS, Carmel Link History blog dated Aug. 3, 2007.