Old Bergen Reformed Church / Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery
Vroom Street, between Bergen and Tuers Avenues

Jersey City's oldest burial ground is the Old Bergen Church Cemetery at Vroom Street, across Bergen Avenue from the Old Bergen Reformed Church. Set on a small hill, it served as the final resting place for the Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church (now Old Bergen Reformed Church) founded in 1660. Its first recorded burial took place in 1668. The original grave markers carved of wood have not survived the years of exposure to the elements.

The oldest remaining stone markers date from the late 1700s and bear the names of the descendants of the founding Dutch families. Among them are Brinkerhoff, Newkirk, Sip, Van Houten, Van Reypen, Van Vorst, Van Wagenen, and Van Winkle. Among the approximate 150 graves are those of the legendary Revolutionary War patriot Jane Van Reypen Tuers and two pastors of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reverend William Jackson (1757-1793 and the Reverend John Cornelison (1793-1828). When Bergen Avenue was widened in 1926, some of the graves placed along the avenue were moved to the Arlington Cemetery in North Arlington, New Jersey.

Today, an iron gate atop a concrete wall surrounds the cemetery. When passing the cemetery, one notices that the graves markers face east away from Bergen Avenue, a position for the souls of the dead said to be in keeping with preparation for the coming of the Day of Judgment.

The cemetery is no longer available for new interments; the last burial took place in 1945. Cemetery records are included among those of the Family History of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

The other cemeteries in Jersey City are Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City/Harsimus Cemetery, Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery, and Speer Burial Gound/DeMott Burial Ground.

Reference:

Sarapin, Janice Kohl. Old Burial Grounds of New Jersey, A Guide. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1995.