A Place of Remembrance, Prayer, and Hope
The Scatter Garden at Hillsborough Reformed Church at Millstone provides a sacred and peaceful setting for members of our church community and their immediate family members to lay loved ones' cremated remains to rest. It is a place to grieve, remember, give thanks for life, and find comfort in the promises of the gospel. We give thanks to God for this ministry and for the generosity, creativity, and care that made the garden possible. The Scatter Garden was dedicated on Homecoming Sunday, September 13, 2026, marking the renewal of our historic cemetery ministry.
Our Historic Cemetery
The cemetery at Hillsborough Reformed Church at Millstone is a place of history, memory, and reverence. Burials here date to before the American Revolution, and the cemetery contains the graves of generations of people connected to the church and the surrounding community.
Burials continued until the 1920s, when the cemetery no longer had available plots. For nearly a century, the cemetery remained a place of remembrance without serving as an active burial ground. In 2026, the church renewed this ministry through the creation of the Scatter Garden, which was designed and whose construction was overseen by Lisa Adamson. Construction began in the Spring of 2026. The garden was established in the location of the large dogwood tree that formerly stood near the center of the cemetery.
Visiting the Cemetery
The cemetery is historic and sacred ground. Many of its grave markers and monuments are fragile or unstable because of their age, and the grounds are uneven. Visitors are asked to walk carefully, respect the graves and markers, and take care not to lean against, sit on, move, or otherwise disturb the stones. Please do not alter plantings, rocks, or other cemetery features.
The cemetery and Scatter Garden are overseen by Hillsborough Reformed Church, its Consistory, and the Cemetery Team. We are grateful for all who help preserve this place and its ministry for generations to come. Additional information about the cemetery, including a map and other historical details, will be added to this page in the future.