A new group is on a monumental mission to restore deteriorating headstones and burial markers at cemeteries across Long Island.

The oldest stone at Monfort Cemetery in Port Washington dates back to 1737. After centuries of weathering, nearly half of the 151 headstones are in various states of disrepair.

The nonprofit Burying Ground Preservation Group is surveying the damage at some Long Island cemeteries. But the preservation effort is about more than simply making old stones look shiny and new -- it's about connecting the past to the present.

One of the settlers buried at Monfort, Hendrick Onderdonk, hosted George Washington in his home in Roslyn. Another, Adrian Onderdonk, was the first supervisor of North Hempstead. Also buried there are five Revolutionary War patriots who declared their towns independent from Hempstead, which was loyal to the British.

Monfort Cemetery is a landmark in the Town of North Hempstead and is also on the National Register of Historic Places.