George Robertson
Around 1750, a plot of land of about 4 acres was set aside for a church and burial ground. In 1770, by royal charter, this tract was assigned to St. Peter’s Church. The church graveyard served as a burial ground for all of the Town of Cortlandt, which included Peekskill, and it became crowded as the local population grew.
Hillside Cemetery had its beginnings as a separate cemetery in the 1850s, as land bordering St. Peter’s church graveyard was acquired for use as burial space. It was incorporated as Cortlandt Cemetery Association in 1884.
Foundry owner George W. Robertson was the Corporation’s first president, serving from its inception until his death in 1906. He and the other first officers were all prominent men in the Peekskill and Cortlandt areas. They immediately set out to repair the roads, build receiving vaults, and to lay out and map the property. They acquired more land, creating a tract of over 100 acres.
Ornate monuments and mausoleums mark the graves of foundry owners and other industrialists whose factories drove the growth of the Peekskill area in the late 19th century. Here at Hillside also rest those who worked in those factories, along with farmers and tradespeople.
Today, Hillside remains a non-sectarian, not-for-profit cemetery drawing from a wide cross-section of the local population. Descendants of old local families still find their final resting place here, as do those who are more recently arrived.
