It is located on the west bank of the Passaic River in Newark's Broadway neighborhood, opposite Kearny.

The cemetery is dominated by the marble mausoleum of John Fairfield Dryden, the founder of Prudential Financial.

Other notable interments include Marcus Lawrence Ward, Governor of New Jersey; Seth Boyden, inventor of patent leather; and Mary Stillman, first wife of Thomas Edison.

Mount Pleasant also contains graves of members of the Kinney, Ballantine, and Frelinghuysen families.

The cemetery itself was opened and incorporated in 1844, but there are graves that date back to the mid-17th century, which were moved from older graveyards that were crowded out due to development.