Did you know?

As you go about your fast-paced routine driving to and from work or school on Anderson Hill Road, you've probably passed the Anderson family burial ground at least 300-400 times a year. Maybe, you never even realized that there was a cemetery there, but it has, for the last 240 years, stood in silent ceremony to a more bucolic age, when time unraveled at a leisured pace, and Purchase was a rural landscape of farms, fields and orchards.

Documents from the archives of the Harrison Historical Society relate that this cemetery was established for the Anderson Family in 1763, and several Revolutionary War patriots have found their final rest there.

The Burial Ground is located on the north side of the road on the corner of Century Ridge Road and across from the Loeb Estate on what was originally called "Harrison Road" or "The Road to White Plains," as it was known in colonial times. The name later changed to "Anderson Hill Road" in honor of Joseph H. Anderson (1800-1870) who served in Congress from 1843-1847. Joseph was himself buried there when he died in 1870.

In fact, the Anderson family homestead, a gracious house reflective of the gentile lifestyle of a bygone age, still stands on Anderson Hill Road although it has since passed out of the possession of the Anderson family.

by Diane McManus

Anderson Hill Cemetery

PEPA is funding the restoration of the Anderson Hill Cemetery, Purchase's oldest burial grounds. Landscaping and clean-up are underway with volunteer support from PEPA members and local students. They have already removed invasive plants and repaired the stone wall along Anderson Hill Road.

In recognition of the burial ground's cultural and historical significance, PEPA has hired professional staff to oversee the project. Work will soon begin on the monuments and headstones; many decayed and blackened by pollution and neglect.

Anyone interested in making contributions to the Anderson Family Cemetery project may send a specially designated tax-deductible donation to PEPA.