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Washington Street Cemetery is an historic cemetery located in Geneva, Ontario County, New York. The cemetery was laid out in 1832 and the entry is distinguished by a handsome cast iron arch dating from the 1840s / 1850s. It contains about 2,200 burials dating from 1832 to the 1950s.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
In 1832 the village trustees of Geneva proposed that a new burial ground was necessary because all of the space had been taken in the Pulteney Street Cemetery. A lot was purchased for this purpose and it is located at the corner of Washington Street and Monroe Avenue.
From Geneva Gazette 29 June 1849:
Mr. Editor: A few days since, while passing through the Cemetery, on Washington street, I was much pained to notice the wanton depredations of some unprincipled persons, committed on the monuments and tomb stones erected, and held sacred to the memory of the dead, as the last tribute of respect, for friends that are now no more. Raised letters have been broken off -- Roses, carved as an emblem of affection, have been defaced -- large pieces broken here and there from slabs and monuments; and one small monument in particular was taken out of the socket, and the lead that it was set in, taken out by some lawless wretch, thereby breaking the corners off, and disfiguring the stone. Such outrages have been committed to some extent, for a few years past. Now I would suggest that our "City Fathers" to offer a suitable reward for the detection of the perpetrators of such outrages upon the memorials of the dead. Persons guilty of such detestable acts should be punished severely.
Yours,
Engraver
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