Old Parish Cemetery

Amazing old cemetery with historic headstones, one of a supposed witch with gifts from visitors - what a great hidden gem in one of the oldest cemeteries in the Pine State.

The Old Parish Cemetery in York is a small treasure. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Maine and has fine examples of different grave stone styles from carvers from all over New England. Most people visit and comment on the grave of Mary Nasson because they feel she must have been a witch. They thought that the stone behind her grave was put there by her husband to keep her under ground. In Connecticut they called these large stones laid over the graves "Wolf Stones" to keep wolves from digging up the shallow graves they tried to dig in the granite hill country of SW Connecticut. Mary Nasson's grave stone was carved by Joseph Lamson of Boston whose decendants also carved Mary Emmerson's grave stone. I was surprised to see the large brown Connecticut river valley sandstone gravestone for Mrs. Ruthe Lyman(1785) which was carved by John Johnson and must have been put on a ship in southern Connecticut and shipped up to York. The stones for Samuel Moody and John Bragdon are wonderful examples of Henry Emmes' beautiful stone carving. The Burial Ground has a reference map showing where the early York families are buried. If you love history or like examining well preserved and very old gravestones, you should spend a few minutes wandering through these old stones under the wonderful shade provided by large old trees.

Excellent old cemetery with many old carved graves; most in excellent condition given their age.

This is an awesome cemetery to check out, it’s very historical and has a memorial for the victims of the candlemas day massacre. Many people bring a token or trinket to leave on Mary’s grave since it was once rumored to be a witches grave.

Nice little Cemetery to check out. Lots of very old Graves from the 1700s. Be sure to visit the witches grave and leave her an offering. It can't hurt, right?