It was founded on land owned by the Chamberlin family, whose identified graves make up about 20 percent of roughly 250 gravesites.

In contrast, burial practices at East Main Street continued to follow the early traditions, with simple headstones and a graves laid out in relatively straight rows.

In 1887 the town was asked to consider relocating the bodies in the cemetery to Main Street, but no vote was held on the matter.

The most ornate marker is for James Bardin (died 1855): it has a high pedestal supporting a round column, topped by an urn and encircled by a wreath.

Media related to East Main Street Cemetery (Dalton, Massachusetts) at Wikimedia Commons