West Highland Cemetery

The need for a burying ground in Highland arose soon after the first settlers arrived in the 1830s, and an acre was laid out for cemetery use in 1835-36. The Highland Baptist Church bought the land in 1841. In 1915, urged by the Ladies Aid society, the West Highland Cemetery Association organized to improve the cemetery, adding an iron fence and plantings, and it took over ownership in 1927. In 1934 more than one hundred spruce trees were planted. By 1977, when ownership passed to Highland Township, the cemetery had grown to four acres. Although some of the earliest grave markers have disappeared, several hundred gravestones and monuments showing a variety of nineteenth century funerary art remain. The cemetery is the final resting place of several Highland area settlers and prominent citizens, including Rufus Tenny, who arrived in 1832 and became the township's first supervisor. The area's first church service, school, and township meeting were held at the farm of his brother Jesse. Also buried there is Squire W. Rowe, who settled in Highland in 1835, served for many years as township supervisor, and was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1865. John Mudge, the first veteran interred there, served as a chaplain during the American Revolution and died in 1839 at the age of 84. Other burials include veterans of the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam Conflict.

Michigan · United States