Fairview Cemetery

Veterans who are or were residents of West Hartford are eligible to purchase lots at Fairview Cemetery on a pre-needed basis.  This policy reflects the Town's commitment to veterans as stated in the Town Council resolution passed on February 23, 1999.

Who is eligible?

Veterans of the United States Armed Forces who received honorable discharges and served during wartime conflicts as designated by the State Department of Veterans’ Affairs.  Only residents or former residents of West Hartford are eligible to purchase lots for themselves and their spouses on a pre-needed basis.

What lots are available?

A limited number of cemetery lots are available in random locations for single veterans, and for veterans and their spouses.  The sites available include the following choices:

• Cremation lots for single or double graves
• Single grave flush-marker lots 
• Double grave flush-marker lots
• Double grave monument lots (Please note: single-grave monument lots are not available.)

What are the costs?

Fees vary depending on the type of lot that is purchased.  Please call the Cemetery Office at 860-561-8136 for pricing and availability information. A special veterans discount allows for 10% off fees for cremation lots and flush-marker graves for veterans, and 5% off fees for monument graves for veterans.  Spouses of veterans would pay full price.

How do I apply?

Interested veterans may call the Cemetery Office at 860-561-8136 to make an appointment to see the available lots.  Lots will be shown by appointment only.  We regret we cannot accommodate "walk-ins".

How do I purchase a lot?

Veterans must bring a copy of their discharge papers to the Cemetery Office.  Once eligibility has been confirmed, they will be asked to submit a resident deed application.  Payment for the lot is required at that time. (Installment payments are available. Please call or visit the Cemetery Office for details.)

If you are in town, we suggest you take this information along with you as you tour the Old Center Cemetery. It highlights the important, the unique, and the not so well-known residents of the town from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, offering a glimpse into lives long forgotten. Few women are included on the tour because, unlike men, little information is available about them. Essentially, women lost their identities upon marriage. Thus, those included on the tour are either unique or important to the town's history. As you look at their markers, observe how women are almost always noted in reference to their husbands. The cemetery houses a wide variety and style of stones on which misspellings were not uncommon: American English did not become standardized until the publication of Noah Webster's Dictionary in 1828. Those buried here range from a stillborn infant to a 100-year-old man. Generally, adults in colonial New England could expect to live as long as we do today once they survived the perils of childhood. Of close to 200 people buried here, 22 were aged 80 or older at death, while 23 were 16 or younger. As you tour, see what differences and/or similarities to modern cemeteries you can observe on your own. This text describes 19 individuals and one monument. To the right of each person's name is the date of death that appears on his or her stone.