The 4-acre (1.6 ha) cemetery was first laid out in 1730, when the voters of Hadley elected to establish a new burying ground in its eastern precinct.

In addition to being the burial site of many of Amherst's early settlers and American Civil War veterans (both white and African American), it is also the burial site of members of the Dickinson family, most notably the poet Emily Dickinson.

[2] The oldest portion of the cemetery is in the southwest, where there are hundreds of older slate gravemarkers.

Markers placed during the Victorian era were made predominantly of limestone and brownstone, which gradually gave way to granite, especially for marking the sites of well-to-do families.

The Burnham Gates are made of ashlar stone piers, topped with molded cornices and pyramidal capstones.