ROUND TOP CHURCH, BETHEL

Classification: Churchyard
Location: At Bethel
Condition: Restored to order in recent years
Inscriptions: 97 and 56 in number. Copied by L. Van Alstyne Of Sharon, Conn. See page 240 and 243 of "Burying Grounds of Sharon, Amenia, and North East, New York", printed 1903.
Remarks: About 1746 a Lutheran Church was built on this site which came to be known as "Old Round Top Church." The burial ground grew up around it. Within recent years the highway was cut through the cemetery, dividing it into two parts one on the east side of the road and one on the west. The former included the site of the old church building (long since disappeared) and has been acquired by the descendants of Michael Rowe as a family burial ground. It is known as "Rowe Cemetery". The portion of the churchyard now on the east side of the highway is a neighborhood ground.