Green River Cemetery

The Woodlands

The Green River Cemetery has always been characterized by the natural legacies of an enclosed and diverse forest, a dense pine grove, presence of wildlife and abundance of mature, native trees. The cemetery is forested with many species of trees: red and pin oaks, American chestnut, American elm, red and sugar maples, beech, white and black birch, walnut, Eastern hemlock, white and red pine, pagoda dogwood, and spruce. The greatest number of tree species is still represented in the historic sections in the core of the cemetery. Oak was the predominant species at the time the Cemetery was established. Specific groves of elm, walnut and oak have always existed in the older sections. The predominant trees today are white oaks and sugar and red maples, with oaks dominating the northern sections and maples dominating the newer, southern sections of the cemetery.

The natural appearance of the landscape with predominantly native plants is a great aesthetic value that is true to rural cemetery design and encourages wildlife. A perimeter forest of oak, hemlock, maple, and birch affords a surrounding circle and enclosure to the cemetery and provides some protection from the wind.

The pine grove of approximately three acres consists of 90 foot tall white pine trees with an understory which includes white pine, striped maple, lowbush blueberry, mountain laurel, beech, red and white oak, black birch, partridgeberry, and wintergreen.