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A cemetery is getting new life, thanks to the work of volunteers who say there is a lot of historical importance to these places.
Kimm Schmidt, president of the Landing Ladies Auxiliary, says sometimes headstones at a graveyard are the only record of the settlers of that area.
Schmidt has been working to restore the 190-year-old church and Smithtown Landing Methodist Cemetery - that dates to the 19th century.
Cemetery documentarian Rob von Bernewitz says most of the stones there were black and unreadable, so if anyone came to visit, they wouldn’t know what they were looking at.
Von Bernewitz helped spearheaded the efforts to restore the historical details and led a group of volunteers to repair the stones.
There are about 400 headstones that had to be cleaned at the Smithtown Landing Methodist Cemetery.
Smithtown Landing Methodist Cemetery is a small lot that is home to many of the prominent founding families of Smithtown, like descendants of the Smiths and Darlings, who donated the property where the church and gravesite are located.
It took about 30 volunteers to restore the burial site to its former glory.
There will be a walking tour of the historical church and graveyard on Nov. 2.
