Whippany Burying Yard Halloween Haunt: A Twilight Tour of Hanover History

Gregory Walsh drove past the Whippany Burying Yard every day on his way to work. "I've lived in this town over 50 years," he told TAPinto Hanover this summer. "Then eventually it said, 'Hey, maybe I should go in there and take a look at it.'" Today he serves on the Hanover Township Landmark Commission and belongs to the Hanover Heritage Association. At reenactments, he plays the man who founded the cemetery.

Plenty of Hanover drivers have never gone inside either. The small stone wall along Route 10 in Whippany guards more than three centuries of local history, and TAPinto noted that many people pass it without knowing what is behind it. On Sunday, October 25, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., the Landmark Commission will walk visitors through the graves by flashlight at the free Hanover Halloween Haunt. In a year built around Whippany's 350th anniversary, it may be the easiest way to stand on the ground where the town's written record begins.

A Deed Dated September 2, 1718

The yard started as a gift. John Richards, a Whippany schoolmaster, deeded a three-and-a-half-acre tract for public use. The deed names a meetinghouse, a schoolhouse, a burying yard and a training field, and it is dated the second day of September, 1718. Richards gave the land to his "friends and neighbors." He died about three months later and became the first person buried there.

That date puts the yard ahead of Morris County itself. Local historians describe it as the oldest graveyard in north-central New Jersey. County preservation records say Morris County's first Presbyterian church stood on the site until 1755. The Whippany Cemetery Association ran the grounds until 1976, when Hanover Township took over maintenance and administration. The yard was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 11, 2009, and it is also on the New Jersey Register. The township owns the property. The Landmark Commission handles preservation, restoration and educational programs, and volunteers help keep up the grounds.

The Names Behind the Wall

More than 500 people are believed to be buried there. Here are a few of the names the October tour is likely to pass:

• John Richards, the schoolmaster who donated the land and was its first burial.
• Abraham Kitchel, an early settler and one of Morris County's early judges. The yard holds two of the county's six founding judges.
• Joseph Tuttle, whom one New Jersey Hills report calls a colonel and commander of the Morris County Militia. A Revolutionary War sites list records a Joseph Tuttle as a private in the New Jersey Militia, so the sources disagree on his rank.
• Abigail "Abby" Kitchel Tuttle Vail, who kept and passed along stories of the American Revolution.
• Captain David Bates of the New Jersey Militia and Captain Stephen Munson of the Continental Line. They are two of at least 11 Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the yard.

Most of the 500 never made the history books. Walsh's list includes farmers, blacksmiths, Civil War veterans, women who aided soldiers during the Revolution, and many children who died young. "There are probably over 500 stories," he said. Founding-family surnames like Tuttle and Kitchel come up again and again on the stones.

The 350th Year Drew Its Crowds Elsewhere

Hanover planned 2026 as a double celebration, marking the nation's 250th birthday and Whippany's 350th. The township's schedule put the yard in the middle of it, with a July 4 ceremony honoring the Revolutionary heroes buried there. The program was set to end with a buffet luncheon on October 3 at the First Presbyterian Church of Whippany.

The July 4 event didn't go as planned. Severe storms wrecked the event tent and organizers had to cancel. Volunteers came back the next morning expecting to clean up, and residents started showing up anyway. "We wound up with about 30 people," Walsh said, and the group gave some of its planned presentations.

Compare that with the anniversary celebration at Malapardis Park on September 12. More than 200 residents came for performances, music, face painting and food. This summer's free "Echoes of Liberty" scavenger hunt also sent families out to historic sites like Rochambeau Rock and Monroe Hall. The anniversary found its crowds. The ground where the town's oldest records begin got one small, rained-out morning.

Walsh doesn't think damaged stones are the yard's biggest challenge. He thinks it's that people don't know the place exists.

"In some ways it's a benefit that a lot of people don't know about it because there aren't that many people that come in. But then on the other side of the coin, we don't get people in. We don't get interest in the burying yard."

What October 25 Looks Like

The Haunt isn't on the official 350th schedule. It's a yearly Landmark Commission event, and that matters more after this summer. The township listed the 2024 Haunt for October 26. Morris County Tourism promoted the 2025 Haunt for October 18, with guided tours and a séance, sponsored by the Landmark Commission and the Hanover Heritage Association. This year's township listing describes the event only as a tour of the graves. Here are the details:

• When: Sunday, October 25, 2026, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
• Where: Whippany Burying Yard, 310 Route 10 East, Whippany
• Parking: Casa de Montecristo
• Cost: Free
• Bring: Comfortable walking shoes and flashlights for the twilight terrain
• Weather: The event is canceled if it rains

The flashlight tip is practical. Many of the oldest headstones are sandstone, and their inscriptions have worn down until they are hard or impossible to read. Light shining across a worn stone at a low angle can pick out lettering that flat light hides.

Three Centuries in One Glance

Walsh suggests a simple route for a first visit.

1. Start at John Richards's grave, the first burial, from late 1718.
2. Look across the yard to the graves of Arthur Albohn and his wife. They were among the last people buried there before the yard closed to new burials.
3. Everything between those two spots covers nearly three centuries of Hanover Township history.

Walsh said a sign at the entrance calls the yard "a bridge to history." Tours and reenactments are meant to put a person behind the names, so visitors can ask questions and talk with reenactors. "It's not just words on a page," he said. "You actually see an individual, a human being."

About $1,500 a Stone

Visitors see the reenactments. The upkeep happens behind the scenes. Walsh credits volunteers Len Ferriello and Theresa Swalo with helping oversee preservation, and Tom Coates with preparing the grounds before events. Before the Fourth of July, Coates spent more than 10 hours in the yard.

Repairing stones costs real money. Because the yard is on historic registers, licensed conservators who specialize in historic monuments have to do the work. Walsh estimates each repair at about $1,500, with roughly 15 to 20 stones waiting. Current funding covers only a handful a year. At that rate, the waiting list alone comes to somewhere between $22,500 and $30,000. The Hanover Heritage Association recently earned 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, which opens the door to grants and fundraising. Volunteers also now think two damaged stones that had raised vandalism concerns were more likely knocked over by accident. More people coming through the gate is how both the awareness gap and the funding gap start to close.

Route 10's October Weekends

The Haunt caps a run of October weekends near the same road. The Whippany Railway Museum's Pumpkin Patch Train runs Saturday, October 10, and Sunday, October 11, rain or shine, from 1 Railroad Plaza at Route 10 West and Whippany Road. Departures are at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. for a 10-mile, 45-minute round trip. Tickets run $13 to $26 and include admission to the museum, and children with tickets can pick a free pumpkin while supplies last. On Saturday, October 24, Hanover Township Recreation hosts the free Masquerade at Malapardis from 1 to 3 p.m. at 211 Malapardis Road in Cedar Knolls, for township residents ages 10 and younger. It includes trick-or-treating, a pumpkin patch and a trackless train. The next evening, the flashlights come out at the burying yard, as long as it doesn't rain.

Older places in Morris County need people who know their stories and take care of them, and that includes the historic homes along the same roads. If you own a house with a long history in Hanover or nearby, Sueanne Sylvester can help you document what makes it special and present that story well when the time comes to sell. Request a Home Valuation to start with a clear picture of where your home stands today.