Town of North Hempstead Council Member Mariann Dalimonte recently joined descendants of Adrian Onderdonk on a visit of the historic Monfort Cemetery in Port Washington. Town Historian Ross Lumpkin along with members of the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society, who helped organized the visit, were also in attendance.
“The Monfort Cemetery in Port Washington is an incredible historic site within the Town of North Hempstead,” said Council Member Dalimonte. “From Martin Schenck to members of the Onderdonk family, this location contains the remains of those who helped shape our local history here in North Hempstead. The Monfort Cemetery, because of its proximity to Schreiber High School, is an ideal location for an outdoor learning center from which future generations can educate themselves on the rich history of our local communities.”
“Because so many prominent citizens from the 18th and 19th centuries, including nine revolutionary war patriots, are buried here, the Monfort Cemetery has the potential to be an outdoor learning center for students and a venue for events commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution,” said Town Historian Lumpkin. “Plans for the Semiquincentennial are underway on the national and state levels. The Town of North Hempstead is initiating local plans now.”
The Town recently submitted a grant to the Preservation League of New York State for funding to help in the restoration efforts of the Monfort Cemetery.
The Monfort Cemetery was declared a Town landmark on July 23, 1985 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The Monfort Cemetery has 154 internments from 1737 to 1892 and includes many notable gravesites including members of the Onderdonk, Dodge, Hegeman, Rapelje and Schenck families. In 2018, the Town unveiled a historical marker at the cemetery.
For more information, please call 311 from within the Town, or (516) 869-6311 from outside the Town.
—Submitted by the Town of North Hempstead
