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Welcome to Vale Cemetery

Vale Cemetery, listed on the National Register of Historic Sites,is a 100-acre cemetery within a park in the heart of Schenectady, NY. Vale Cemetery is the final resting place of 33,000 souls.

The city’s most notable citizens are interred here: industrialists, inventors, politicians, military men and religious leaders. The annual tours, however, take note of all citizens from the celebrity to the indigent. The plots of the nameless, buried in a Potter’s Field, are given the same attentive dignity as those of the rich.

Vale Cemetery is also a living memorial to the history and culture of the area. With special events throughout the year Vale welcomes all residents with an interest in preserving the heritage of this unique region.

Tours, workshops and special events are planned throughout the year and we invite you to visit and get to know Vale. We will be commemorating Memorial Day on May 31st with a ceremony and our annual Geranium Planting.

Help Support Vale

We need your help!

Vale Cemetery, Inc. is a 501(c)(13) non-profit and tax-deductible organization dedicated to preserving and maintaining the beauty of Vale. Tax deductible contributions can be mailed to:

Vale Cemetery, Inc.
907 State Street
Schenectady, New York 12307

Please contact us to discuss how to best maximize the tax advantage gained by your contribution.

African-Americans at Vale

In I863 the Colored Cemetery on Veeder Ave. was moved to Vale Cemetery. The city was rapidly expanding at that time and people were taking sand and other materials for building purposes causing the graves to become uncovered. Alonzo Paige, a local attorney, paid to have the graves moved.

Initially called the “Old Colored Plot” this section has been renamed to the African-American Ancestral Burial ground. Eighty-one people are buried in this section with internments continuing to this day.

Learn more