Building date: 1872
Original use: Cemetery receiving vault
Corner structures: Fairly uniform square cut blocks of limestone and occur at the sides of the door as well as the corners.
Mortar application and content: Stones in flat mortar matrix
Types and uses of stones: Round, smooth and of various colors. the number of rows of stones per quoin varies from 4 to 5 in the front wall, while on the sides where the stones are larger, there are stone 3 rows per quoin.
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details: Gui-1, Gui-3
Masons who worked on building: R. E. Zeh
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°42'49.74"N 73°59'14.50"W. Current owner of record, Town of Guilderland as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Guilderland and Albany County 1978 Highway Maps
In Guilderland Center, at the corner of Rt. 146 and Osborn Rd., Osborne Corners, a right turn brings one to the entrance to Guilderland Cemetery. Beside the entrance road is a receiving vault built in 1872. A marble tablet and the keystone in the arch over the door both are inscribed with that date. The quoins are fairly uniform square cut blocks of limestone and occur at the sides of the door as well as the corners. Stones are round and smooth and are of various colors set in a matrix of mortar in a manner identical to Gui-1. In spite of the fairly uniform quoins, the number of rows of stones per quoin varies from 4 to 5 in the front wall, while on the sides where the stones are larger, there are 3 rows per quoin. Here again, the interruption of work is marked by a line of incomplete fusion of the upper or later layer of mortar with the lower or earlier. This building appears to have been constructed by the same mason as Gui-1. Roudabush Survey page 42
Above the door is a marble tablet with the inscription: "Guilderland Cemetery, 1872, Receiving Vault," and cut in the keystone of the arch below: "Guilderland Cemetery, 1872." The large cobblestones in the side walls are large and multi-colored: those in front multi-colored but smaller and more uniform. The quoins are smooth faced with rough ends. This is no doubt the latest of all the structures pictured. The cemetery itself is much older than the vault, dating at least to 1850. Prior to that, from the days of early settlement, in the beginning of the 18th century, burials were made in private farm grave yards. The cemetery and vault lie a short distance behind the parsonage of the Helderberg Reformed Congregation, built in 1790. Their first church and for years the only one of any denomination between Albany and Schoharie, was built about 1750. Historian Notes excerpt.
Cobblestone receiving vault of the Guilderland Cemetery at 6432 Stitt Road, Osborn's Corners. The marble table above the door bears the inscription, "Guilderland Cemetery 1872 Receiving Vault." The cemetery itself is much older than the vault. It is also known as the Dutch Reformed Cemetery, being located on the original lease of 43 3/4 acres from "the proprietor of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck, Stephen Van Renesselaer, Esq., to the Minister, Elders, and Decons of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Helderberg." The lease was dated October 25th, 1794. Richard Palmer blog.
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National Register of Historic Places Registration
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Cemetery Receiving Vault
- Page 16
- "Cobblestone Landmarks of New York State", 1978, by Olaf William Shelgren, Jr., Cary Lattin, and Robert W. Frasch, Photographs by Gerda Peterich: Name reference, Receiving Vault.
- Page 161
- "The Era of Cobblestone Architecture", unpublished manuscript 1972. To access the manuscript content about this structure, see 1. Albany County, District #6 School, Rt. 146, Guilderland Center.
¹ Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum, A. B. Gregg, Guilderland Town Historian, Altamont Enterprise, July 7, 1961
² Image courtesy Gerda Peterich.
³ Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
4 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
