How Cemetery Care Is Organised Across Vermont

Vermont has no single office that runs every burial ground. Town governments, church parishes, volunteer associations and the state each look after their own cemeteries, from the marble town of West Rutland to hill farms in Franklin County. Our database lists 62 cemetery contacts in 40 Vermont communities. Knowing who owns a cemetery tells you who sets prices, who keeps the burial records and who picks up the phone when a stone leans or a grave needs opening.

Most listings fall into four groups:

A single town can contain several of these types, so ask who owns a specific cemetery before you ask about a lot or a record. A wrong first call usually ends in a referral, not an answer.

Vermont Statutes, Town Clerks and the Burial Records Trail

Vermont's cemetery rules sit mainly in Title 18 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated, the health title. No statewide board licenses every graveyard, so the town is the first and most useful office for most families. Annual town meeting in March is where voters set cemetery budgets and, in many towns, choose the commissioners who run them.

Four offices touch most burials. The cemetery owner or commission sells lots and schedules the opening. A funeral director, licensed through the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation, handles paperwork and transport. The town clerk records deeds to burial lots in the land records and is usually the contact for the burial-transit permit. The Vermont Department of Health, through its vital records office, holds the official death certificate.

For family history, start with the town clerk where the person lived or died. Then try the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration in Middlesex and the Vermont Historical Society in Barre. Local historical societies often hold printed stone-by-stone surveys that never made it online.

Vermont also has many small, old burial grounds on hillsides and along back roads, some more than two centuries old. When no association or family remains to care for one, the town usually ends up mowing and repairing it, often with help from local volunteers and groups such as the Vermont Old Cemetery Association. If you find a neglected stone, report it to the town clerk or the selectboard rather than repairing it yourself. Careless cleaning can damage soft marble.

Metro Versus Rural: Where Vermont's Cemeteries Cluster

Vermont is small and mostly rural, and its cemetery offices follow population and old settlement lines. Cities such as Burlington and Rutland have more staffed offices, while hill towns rely on a clerk, a sexton or a volunteer.

Rutland County and the marble belt

Rutland County has the most listings in our database, with 14. Cheney Hill Cemetery on Cedar Avenue in Rutland, West Rutland Sacred Heart Cemetery on Main Street, Fair Haven Saint Marys Cemetery on Washington Street, Brandon Town Cemetery and Middletown Springs Pleasant View Cemetery are all in this one county. West Rutland grew around marble quarrying, and older stones in the area often show the skill of local carvers. Church-affiliated and municipal cemeteries sit side by side here, so confirm ownership before arranging anything.

Chittenden County and the Burlington area

Chittenden County is Vermont's most populous county and has nine listings. Burlington Mt Calvary Cemetery Association is listed at 20 Pine Street, and Fort Ethan Allen Cemetery at 76 Hegeman Avenue in Colchester takes its name from the former army post there. Urban offices are more likely to keep regular hours, but they also handle higher demand. Call ahead about lot availability, especially if you want a second plot beside a spouse.

Barre, Montpelier and Washington County

Washington County pairs the state capital with Barre, long known as the Granite Capital of the World. St Monicas Cemetery on Beckley Street in Barre is listed at 802-476-6245. Montpelier Saint Augustine Cemetery at 2 Sunset Avenue has no phone number in our records, so contact the parish or the city clerk's office. Barre's granite carving tradition means monument dealers and memorial designers are easy to find nearby.

The rural north and east

Franklin County has seven listings, including Cemetery St Joseph on Swanton Road in St. Albans, Saint Isidore Cemetery on Mountain Road in Montgomery and Saint Rocks Cemetery on Pond Road in Fairfield. Farther east, Essex County lists East Haven Cemetery and North Victory Cemetery in Granby, and Orleans County lists Newport East Main Street Cemetery. In these smaller places the number on file may ring at a town office or a volunteer's home. Call during business hours and leave a clear message with the cemetery name.

Practical Steps Before You Call a Vermont Cemetery Office

Have a few facts ready and the call goes faster. Many offices are part-time, so a short, clear request gets a callback sooner.

First, confirm the owner. Check the listing, then ask the town clerk if the cemetery name is unfamiliar. Second, gather the person's full name, dates and the lot or section if you know it. Old family deeds are often recorded in the town land records. Third, ask for lot, opening and closing, and perpetual care costs in writing. Fees vary widely between a small town cemetery and a larger parish or association.

Fourth, check the number. Cemetery St Joseph in St. Albans is listed with a 603 area code, which is a New Hampshire code, so confirm it with the town or city clerk before relying on it.

Fifth, ask about rules for stones. Many cemeteries limit marker size, material and foundation placement, and some require a monument dealer to coordinate with the sexton before installation.

Timing matters too. Spring thaw and mud season can limit access to hill-town cemeteries on dirt roads, and many burial grounds are not plowed in winter. Ask when the cemetery is reachable before you set a service date. The sections below cover winter scheduling, veterans burial and permits in more detail.

Government cemeteries in Vermont 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 40 cities across Vermont. They are spread across 12 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Burlington, Rutland, Randolph, where established municipal cemeteries have served their communities for generations and maintain extensive historical burial records.

Veterans in Vermont may be eligible for burial in a state veterans cemetery at little or no cost. Contact the Vermont 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 Vermont can often request burial records from municipal cemetery offices or search online databases maintained by state archives and historical societies. Many Vermont counties have digitized older cemetery records that are available through county clerk or public library genealogy collections.

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

Vermont Cemetery Visits by Region and Season

Vermont's four-season calendar shapes cemetery work more than it does in most states. Frost can run deep enough in January that many town cemeteries postpone burial until the ground can be opened, and some towns have historically kept a receiving tomb for winter storage. Ask the cemetery or your funeral director what is possible before you announce a date. Summer is the busiest season for visiting and upkeep, with mowing, flag placement and Memorial Day services at places such as Fort Ethan Allen Cemetery in Colchester and VT Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Randolph.

Southwestern Vermont has its own character. In Bennington County, our database lists Bennington Park Lawn Cemetery on U.S. 7, Dellwood Cemetery on Main Street in Manchester, Factory Point Cemetery in Manchester Center and East Dorset South Village Cemetery in Dorset. Windsor County includes Chester Pleasant View Cemetery and Plymouth Notch Cemetery, whose Lynds Hill Road setting draws visitors to the Coolidge family graves. Windham County is represented by Cotton Mill Hill Cemetery in Guilford, and Lamoille County by South Cambridge Cemetery on Edwards Road. Visitors to any of these should check access before a long drive.

Vermont Cemetery FAQs

It depends on the owner. A town-owned cemetery is cared for by the municipality, typically through a cemetery commission, the selectboard or a hired sexton, with money voted at town meeting. Parish cemeteries such as West Rutland Sacred Heart Cemetery or Fair Haven Saint Marys Cemetery are managed by the church or its association, and private associations rely on lot sales and endowments. If you cannot tell who owns a burial ground, ask the town clerk. Clerks keep the land records and usually know whether a cemetery belongs to the town, a church or a volunteer group, and they can point you to the right contact.

VT Veterans Memorial Cemetery, at 487 Furnace Road in Randolph in Orange County, serves eligible veterans and, in general, their eligible spouses and dependent children. Veterans normally need discharge papers, such as a DD-214, showing a discharge other than dishonorable. Call the cemetery at 802-828-3379 to confirm current eligibility, how to apply and which documents to send, since rules can change. A funeral director can usually submit the request, and the VA provides a government headstone or marker for eligible veterans. Ask about the cemetery's marker and flower rules before ordering anything privately.

Often yes, but timing depends on the cemetery and the weather. Vermont frost can make digging slow or impossible in deep winter, and some cemeteries do not plow their interior roads. Families commonly choose a spring graveside service, a funeral home service followed by delayed burial, or cremation with later interment. Ask the cemetery owner or sexton how they handle winter openings and whether extra charges apply. A Vermont funeral director can coordinate the schedule. If you have chosen a small hill-town cemetery, call early, because a volunteer or part-time sexton may need several days' notice.

Start with the town clerk in the town where the person lived, since lot deeds and many older records are held locally. Then contact the parish or cemetery association if the burial ground is church-affiliated, such as Burlington Mt Calvary Cemetery Association. The Vermont State Archives and Records Administration holds statewide records, and the Vermont Historical Society in Barre offers genealogical resources. Many towns also have a historical society or a printed cemetery survey listing every stone. Bring a full name, an approximate death date and any family surnames from the area. Old records often spell names differently, so try variants.

Vermont requires a death certificate and a burial-transit permit before a body is buried or cremated. In most cases the funeral director files the certificate and obtains the permit through the town clerk and the Vermont Department of Health's vital records office. If a family is arranging matters without a funeral director, contact the town clerk where the death occurred and the Health Department for the exact steps. You will also need an agreement with the cemetery covering the lot, the opening and closing fee, and any marker rules. Ask for those terms in writing.

Vermont does not ban every burial on private land, but you cannot simply dig anywhere. Town zoning, distance from wells and water, and rules about recording the burial site in the land records may apply. Start with the town clerk and the zoning administrator, then speak with a Vermont funeral director or attorney about permits and about protecting access for future visits. Also think about what happens to the site if the property is sold. For most families, an existing town or association cemetery such as Brandon Town Cemetery or Ludlow Pleasant View Cemetery is a simpler choice.