Connecticut has no county government, so nearly every cemetery decision is made by a town, a church, a nonprofit association or a private company. That shapes how you find a plot, who answers the phone and which paperwork you need. This page explains how cemetery offices are organised across the state's 169 towns and what to expect when you contact one.

How Cemetery Care Is Organised in Connecticut Without County Government

Connecticut abolished county government in 1960. The eight counties still appear on maps and in our listings, but no county office sells graves or keeps burial records. Your town hall, a cemetery association or a religious body does that work instead.

We group listings by county so you can browse by region. New Haven County and Hartford County have the most, followed by Fairfield County, Litchfield County and New London County. Smaller groups sit in Middlesex County, Windham County and Tolland County.

State law sets the broad framework, but no single agency runs or licenses every burial ground. Several bodies each cover one piece of the process:

Most cemeteries govern themselves. Rules on monuments, plot resale, flowers and visiting hours therefore differ from one cemetery to the next. Ask for the written rules and regulations before you buy anything.

Who Runs the Burial Grounds You Will Be Calling

Four ownership types appear again and again in our listings. Knowing which one you are dealing with tells you who to call and what to ask.

Town and association cemeteries

Many towns own or oversee a burying ground, often alongside a nonprofit association that sells lots and pays for upkeep. The Enfield Cemetery Association at 724 Enfield Street (860-741-6636) and the Indian Hill Cemetery Assn at 383 Washington Street in Middletown (860-346-0452) are examples in our database. Associations usually rely on lot sales and a perpetual care fund. That fund is money set aside so the grounds keep being mowed and repaired after a plot is sold.

Church, diocesan and congregational cemeteries

Catholic parishes, Protestant churches and Jewish congregations operate many Connecticut burial grounds. Names such as Hartford Beth Israel Cemetery at 153 Ward Street in Hartford (860-247-2679) and Bristol St Joseph Cemetery at 522 Terryville Avenue (860-589-2105) point to a religious affiliation. So do New St Josephs Cemetery on Meriden Road in Waterbury (203-754-9105) and Old St Francis Cemetery at 50 Willow Street in Torrington (860-482-4670). Religious cemeteries may limit burial to members or ask for a letter from clergy, so ask about eligibility before you plan a service.

Memorial parks with staffed offices

Larger memorial parks usually keep an office, a printed price list and staff who can walk you through options. Fairchild Memorial Park Cemetery at 840 Old Town Road in Bridgeport (203-452-5075), Beaverdale Memorial Park Cemetery at 90 Pine Rock Avenue in New Haven (203-387-6601) and Fairfield Memorial Park Cemetery at 230 Oaklawn Avenue in Stamford (203-325-1315) fit this group. Compare at least two before you commit, and get every fee in writing.

Small historic burying grounds

Colonial-era burying grounds dot almost every Connecticut town. New Haven's Grove Street Cemetery, chartered in 1797, is among the earliest American cemeteries laid out in family lots. Smaller examples in our listings include Knowlton Cemetery on Karosi Road in Ashford, Lower City Cemetery on Under Mountain Road in Canaan and Bull Hill Cemetery at 151 Bull Hill Road in Colchester. A few entries, such as East Norwalk Historical Cemetery on East Avenue and Danbury Saint Peters Cemetery on Kenosia Avenue, have no phone number on file. For those, start with the town clerk, the parish office or the local historical society.

Shoreline Suburbs, Mill Cities and Quiet Hill Towns

Where you live changes what you will find. Fairfield County along the coast is densely built, and land for new graves is limited. Greenwich Union Cemetery on Milbank Avenue (203-869-9311) and Loyalty Cemetery on Burroughs Road in Fairfield (203-452-1221) sit in towns where older grounds may have few full-size lots left. Ask early about availability, and ask whether the cemetery offers cremation niches or a columbarium.

The central mill cities have large nineteenth-century cemeteries with long record histories. New Britain Fairview Cemetery at 120 Smalley Street (860-826-3495), Meriden Walnut Grove Cemetery at 817 Old Colony Road (203-235-6504) and Plainville West Cemetery at 180 North Washington Street (860-747-2314) are typical. These offices often hold handwritten registers that go back generations. Genealogists should ask what the register covers and whether staff can search it by phone.

Eastern Connecticut mixes small cities with farm and forest towns. Norwich has the most listings in the state, including Hamilton Avenue Cemetery (860-823-3759). New London Cedar Grove Cemetery at 638 Broad Street (860-442-1301) and Old Lyme Cove Cemetery on Ferry Road (860-873-8460) serve the shoreline. Farther inland, Canterbury Carey Cemetery on South Canterbury Road (860-546-9851) and Knowlton Cemetery in Ashford (860-429-4748) are small, local grounds.

In rural towns, the contact is often a sexton, a cemetery committee member or a town official working part-time. Leave a clear message with your name, the person's name and a call-back number. Expect a reply in a day or two rather than minutes. The same pattern holds in the northwest hills, where Lower City Cemetery in Canaan (860-824-0707) and New Milford Center Cemetery at 6 Poplar Street (860-354-6174) sit in Litchfield County communities. Bethany Methodist Cemetery on Litchfield Turnpike (203-393-2100) and Bull Hill Cemetery in Colchester (860-267-8123) are further examples of church-linked and small-town grounds.

Practical Steps for Arranging a Burial or Finding a Grave in Connecticut

Most families work through a licensed funeral director. The director files the death certificate and obtains the burial permit from the town registrar of vital statistics. The cemetery will usually ask to see that permit before the grave is opened.

Cremation adds a step. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner must authorize it, and the funeral home normally arranges this. If you plan to bury or inter ashes, ask the cemetery about urn size rules, burial depth and whether a cremation garden is available.

When you visit or call a cemetery office, have these items ready:

The deed or certificate of lot ownership if you already own a plot, a photo ID, the burial permit or death certificate, and your funeral director's contact details. Give the office several days' notice where possible. Winter frost and heavy rain can slow grave opening, and monument foundations are easier to set in milder months.

To find an ancestor's grave, call the cemetery office with a full name and an approximate death year. If the burial ground is old or has no office, try the town clerk next. The Connecticut State Library in Hartford holds the Hale Collection of transcribed cemetery inscriptions, and volunteer groups such as the Connecticut Gravestone Network document older stones.

Burial at the state veterans cemetery in Middletown

The Connecticut State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown is run by the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs. It serves eligible veterans and, in many cases, their spouses. Have the veteran's discharge papers (DD-214) ready, and confirm eligibility with the department before the funeral so there are no surprises.

Government cemeteries in Connecticut include facilities administered by the VA's National Cemetery Administration, state veterans cemeteries funded through state and federal partnerships, and local municipal and county cemeteries operated by city and county governments throughout the state.

Cemetery locations are available in 136 cities across Connecticut. They are spread across 8 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Norwich, New Haven, Waterbury, where established municipal cemeteries have served their communities for generations and maintain extensive historical burial records.

Veterans in Connecticut may be eligible for burial in a state veterans cemetery at little or no cost. Contact the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs or Veterans Services to confirm eligibility requirements and available state-operated facilities.

Cemetery by Counties

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Families and genealogists in Connecticut can often request burial records from municipal cemetery offices or search online databases maintained by state archives and historical societies. Many Connecticut counties have digitized older cemetery records that are available through county clerk or public library genealogy collections.

Browse Cemetery by county across Connecticut to find the nearest location.

Keeping Connecticut Cemetery Records and Grounds Cared For

Record keeping in Connecticut is local and uneven. A large memorial park may hold computerized lot maps. A small hilltop burying ground may rely on a hand-drawn plan kept by the sexton or the town clerk. If you are researching a family plot, ask which records exist before you assume nothing survives.

Maintenance follows the same pattern. Associations pay for mowing and repairs from perpetual care funds and lot sales. Towns cover many older grounds through public works budgets. Where no owner or association remains, the town is generally the body that residents and historical societies press for basic care. Stones in poor repair are a common concern, and volunteer groups often organise cleanups with local permission.

If you find a broken monument or overgrown plot, take photographs, note the cemetery name and street, and contact the cemetery office or town hall. Do not try to straighten or scrub old stones yourself, because the wrong cleaner or lift can cause lasting damage. Unmarked or Native American burials are a special case and should be reported to the town and to the Office of the State Archaeologist.

Cemetery Questions Connecticut Families Ask

No single state office regulates every cemetery. Responsibility is shared. Town registrars and town clerks handle burial permits and local records, and the Department of Public Health licenses funeral directors. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner approves cremations. Each cemetery otherwise governs itself through its owner, whether that is a town, a nonprofit association, a religious body or a private company. For a complaint about a specific cemetery, begin with its board or owner, then the town clerk, and ask a funeral director or attorney which state office fits your situation.

In most cases your funeral director arranges this. The director completes the death certificate, files it with the town registrar of vital statistics and obtains the burial permit. The cemetery usually wants to see that permit before it opens a grave. If you are handling arrangements without a funeral home, call the registrar's office in the relevant town first and ask exactly what they require. Requirements can change, so confirm by phone before you travel.

Cremation in Connecticut requires authorization from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The funeral home normally submits the paperwork and tells the family when approval is complete. After cremation, you can scatter ashes where allowed, keep them, or inter them in a cemetery. If you choose a cemetery, ask about urn dimensions, burial depth, any required outer container and whether it has a niche wall or cremation garden. Policies vary, so request them in writing.

Start with the town and the approximate death year. Look up cemeteries in that town in this directory and call the office with the full name. Larger grounds such as Meriden Walnut Grove Cemetery or New London Cedar Grove Cemetery often keep registers. If a burying ground has no office, ask the town clerk or local historical society. The Hale Collection at the Connecticut State Library in Hartford contains transcribed inscriptions from many older cemeteries, and it is a good place to check when a stone has worn away.

Where a cemetery association or church still exists, it is responsible for its own grounds. Where no owner remains, the town is generally the body to contact, usually through the town clerk, public works department or a local cemetery committee. Historical societies and volunteer groups often help with documentation and cleanup, but they need the town's permission. If you discover human remains or an unmarked burial, stop any work and notify the town and the Office of the State Archaeologist.

Yes, particularly in winter. Frozen ground and snow can slow grave opening, and some cemeteries need extra notice or equipment. Monument foundations are generally easier to set once the ground has thawed, so many families schedule a stone for spring or summer after a winter burial. Memorial Day weekend is busy at most cemeteries, so book visits, headstone cleaning or grave-decoration requests well ahead. Always ask the cemetery office about its own seasonal rules, including limits on flowers, wreaths and decorations at certain times of year.