The cemetery was established in 1898 as the principal burying ground for two congregations, Chesed Shel Emes and Ahavath Achim.

Entrances to the cemetery are marked by stone posts with bronze plaques.

[1] There is also the Temple Sinai section that sits in the grounds of the New Bedford airport that was accessible from the Old Plainville Road but is now blocked off.

[2] It is noted for its significance with the growth of the Jewish community in New Bedford, and for its encapsulation of changing Jewish funerary customs, and their difference from those of other ethnic and religious groups.

[1] Media related to Plainville Cemetery (New Bedford, Massachusetts) at Wikimedia Commons