Established in 1885, the cemetery became the resting ground for many of Dalton's heavily Irish Catholic working class, and is stylistically reflective of changing trends in burial practices away from the rural cemetery movement of the mid-19th century.

The cemetery, still in active use, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

The remaining sides of the cemetery are closed off from the surrounding neighborhood by chain link fencing.

[2] Dalton's Catholic population grew in the mid-19th century with an influx of Irish immigrants, who worked mainly as farmers and laborers.

[2] Media related to Fairview Cemetery (Dalton, Massachusetts) at Wikimedia Commons