History

About the year 1862, Henry Harlington Couse, one of the public spirited men of Waverly, established a cemetery on the south city limits of Waverly and named it Harlington after himself. In 1869, Mr. Couse appointed Ferdinand Lane as superintendent of his cemetery, which position he filled until he retired in 1896. At this time over 800 bodies were interred.

In the August 5, 1887 edition of the local newspaper an article noted that the cold storage vault was "being built in Harlington cemetery and would be used for the temporary reception of bodies when from any cause the regular modes of sepulture was not prepared."

In 1880 Mr. Couse died at which time he was succeeded as owner of Harlington by S.H. Curtis, his son-in-law.

In 1896, Ferdinand Lane was succeeded by his son, Clifford E. Lane, who with the help of the owner, S.H. Curtis, wrote the first rules and regulations of Harlington Cemetery, March 1897.

In 1921 The City of Waverly bought Harlington Cemetery from the S.H. Curtis Estate and appointed Clifford E. Lane as superintendent, which position he filled until his retirement, January 1, 1927, at which time Harlington contained 2,726 bodies.

In the May 5, 1922 edition of the local newspaper was the following article: "Improving Harlington Cemetery" The city of Waverly is preparing to make some very important improvements in Harlington cemetery this spring. This will be especially noticeable at the vault, which will be cemented inside and out, and the outside will be pebble dashed, not only the vault but the walls on either side of the doors, the east wall will be extended quite a distance and this extension will also be pebble dashed." The article continued, "This year the city council has determined to do all it possibly can to aid in this good work."

As of April 1, 1931 the cemetery contained 2,950 bodies.  As of November 28, 2003 the cemetery had 7,330 burials.

The last time the vault was used was in the late 1960’s.