Charlotte Hungerford Gravesite - Click to Enlarge
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Center Cemetery was established in 1851 by the Wolcottville School Society.
At that time the center village of Torrington was known as Wolcottville and the School Society, established in 1839, had the authority to levy taxes for the support of the district school and the district's cemetery.
Center Cemetery is far different from colonial burying grounds both in the style of the headstones and the layout of the cemetery. The oldest stones in the cemetery are made of brownstone and marble and display a refined style of professional stone carving. Unfortunately, these stones are also soft and in many cases have been deteriorated by the weather. The brownstone examples include many of the tall obelisks that mark family plots in the old section directly behind city hall. Many of the people buried here were English immigrants, but graves of other nationalities can be found. These include Irish, German
and Italian.
There are also some stones in this area that are older than 1851. These stones mark the resting place of persons moved here from the Eno Cemetery, an older cemetery on South Main Street that was abandoned in 1894. The first improvements to Center Cemetery occurred in 1887 as a special committee raised funds and contracted for the re-grading of the area behind city hall to create a "smooth shaven sward" to replace "unsightly hummocks, hideous with tangles of briars and weeds".
This work was contracted to Patrick Gleeson, who performed the work with six men and two ox carts. Gleeson also laid out a new north south road. The curving paths through the newer, north part of the cemetery reflect the turn of the century landscape design and the view of cemeteries as public open space.
Torrington's population expanded dramatically at the turn of the century as the promise of factory jobs lured many immigrants to Torrington. New graves and new monuments practically filled the cemetery by 1905. This shortage of space led to the opening of Hillside Cemetery
in 1909. Some burials were removed from Center Cemetery to the new and fashionable Hillside Cemetery designed by Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Mass.
In 2010, ownership and management of the cemetery was transferred from the Wolcottville School Society to the newly formed Center Cemetery Association of Torrington, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation.
Center Cemetery was established in 1851 by the Wolcottville School Society.
At that time the center village of Torrington was known as Wolcottville and the School Society, established in 1839, had the authority to levy taxes for the support of the district school and the district's cemetery.
Center Cemetery is far different from colonial burying grounds both in the style of the headstones and the layout of the cemetery. The oldest stones in the cemetery are made of brownstone and marble and display a refined style of professional stone carving. Unfortunately, these stones are also soft and in many cases have been deteriorated by the weather. The brownstone examples include many of the tall obelisks that mark family plots in the old section directly behind city hall. Many of the people buried here were English immigrants, but graves of other nationalities can be found. These include Irish, German
and Italian.
There are also some stones in this area that are older than 1851. These stones mark the resting place of persons moved here from the Eno Cemetery, an older cemetery on South Main Street that was abandoned in 1894. The first improvements to Center Cemetery occurred in 1887 as a special committee raised funds and contracted for the re-grading of the area behind city hall to create a "smooth shaven sward" to replace "unsightly hummocks, hideous with tangles of briars and weeds".
This work was contracted to Patrick Gleeson, who performed the work with six men and two ox carts. Gleeson also laid out a new north south road. The curving paths through the newer, north part of the cemetery reflect the turn of the century landscape design and the view of cemeteries as public open space.
Torrington's population expanded dramatically at the turn of the century as the promise of factory jobs lured many immigrants to Torrington. New graves and new monuments practically filled the cemetery by 1905. This shortage of space led to the opening of Hillside Cemetery
in 1909. Some burials were removed from Center Cemetery to the new and fashionable Hillside Cemetery designed by Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Mass.
In 2010, ownership and management of the cemetery was transferred from the Wolcottville School Society to the newly formed Center Cemetery Association of Torrington, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation.
