Whitehall Entrance

Whitehall Entrance
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This is the gate to the entrance to the Whitehall Burying Ground [Yard] #21 in Mystic, CT (not far from the Mystic Seaport).

The surrounding area has changed a great deal since I first located this cemetery in May of 2004. It was directly behind a lumber yard which is now a TrueValue Hardware store with a Dunkin Donuts in front of that and alongside an amusement area called Mystic Carousel which is now a Starbucks. There is a street between the coffee places called Hendel Drive and in the space of one year a large Hampton Inn hotel was built next to the cemetery. Once you come off Rt. 95, you look directly across the street to see the Starbucks and you are there.

It is probably owned by the town of Stonington now but it was once maintained by the DAR Chapter that my ancestors belonged to!

I think it was once the farm land of Elias Brown who may have run a gristmill nearby and is named after a large mansion built and owned by Dr. Dudley Woodbridge, MD (1705-1790) who was educated at Harvard (1724) about 1740 and the land was owned by a Gallup before that. Dr. Woodbridge and his wife are buried here.

The name White Hall is named after the place in England. Some streets nearby are named White Hall.

The place called Mystic is not really a town at all! Part of it belongs to Groton and part to Stonington and is separated by a bridge. [Did you see the movie, Mystic Pizza?] Mystic Pizza

Carmen Johnson maintains a Web page with photos of some of the gravestones here. Fred Burdick, my cousin, and town historian has photographed and researched this ancient burying ground and sells a CD with the photos on it. Let me know if you want to buy one!

This cemetery is quite spooky but it is an important place for genealogical discoveries for many families in this area.