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OAK HILL CEMETERY - A Scenic Resting
Place
Oak Hill, originally called the Melrose Burial
Grounds, the public cemetery of Melrose, is open to anyone of any religious persuasion or
none. Its first graves date back to the 1870s, and some earlier burials are recorded. In
April 1885 its board of directors voted to temporarily install a flock of sheep on the
grounds to keep the brush down. People could put fences around their plots until the sheep
were removed. Oak Hill may have originally been owned by either the State or the City of
Melrose. Today Oak Hill is owned by no entity except the plot owners, who pay annual
maintenance fees for its physical upkeep.
Oak Hill is a peaceful, scenic spot. Squirrels
chatter in the graceful oaks which gave it its name, while muskrats swim in the nearby
slough. The gravestones have a charmingly random appearance. Although the site is neatly
laid out in a grid.
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