I'm thrilled and honored to share a guest post today by the General Manager of the historic and beautiful Albany Rural Cemetery, Tim Diamond. Tim and his team have been working tirelessly to reclaim the cemetery's grandeur. Please take a few moments to read his important update about Albany Rural Cemetery.
Albany Rural Cemetery spans 467 acres of rolling, park-like terrain just north of Albany. Founded in 1841, it is one of America’s earliest and grandest rural garden cemeteries - a living outdoor museum of Victorian-era sculpture, funerary art, and landscape design. Historians have described ARC as “a nature preserve, open-air art museum, architectural primer, [and] history classroom,” and it continues to stand as a National Historic Landmark and a cultural anchor for the capital region. What many people do not realize, however, is that Albany Rural Cemetery is also an active, non-profit, non-sectarian cemetery that receives zero government funding. Our ability to maintain 467 acres of historic landscape depends entirely on lot sales, burial services, cremation services, and the generosity of donors. Every dollar goes straight back into the operation - mowing, drainage repairs, road rebuilding, stone resetting, tree management, historic preservation, staff support, and the daily work required to protect this outdoor museum. But this restoration effort goes beyond the soil. Behind every clean-cut hillside and every restored monument is a team working in perfect harmony. If this cemetery is a symphony of service, then the General Manager serves as the conductor, setting the tempo and guiding the mission. The administrative staff are the booking agents, ensuring every interment, record, and family need is handled with precision and grace. The Superintendent is the lead musician, directing the hands-on fieldwork and interpreting the vision in action. And the grounds crew? They are the band - the ones on stage, day after day, rain or shine, bringing the performance to life. Together, this team composes the daily rhythm of Albany Rural Cemetery. It is a collaboration of stewardship, where logistics, care, and craft intersect. For those who believe in the importance of preserving this sacred national treasure, donations are not just appreciated - they are essential to our restoration mission.
Hands-On Leadership and a Present Team
When I stepped into this role, I made one promise: leadership would be present - in the office, on the grounds, and in the community. That meant rolling up my sleeves from day one. You will find me in uniform with our groundskeepers, walking sections, troubleshooting with families, planning infrastructure with trustees, or picking up tools when the work requires it - even in mowers, tractors, and in the operator backhoe when necessary, and just as often in a suit and tie when the moment calls for it. We share this historic preservation privilege. My team and I agreed early on that if we wanted to restore ARC’s reputation and its landscape, we had to be visible, accountable, and willing to do the work ourselves. That presence has changed everything - morale, workflow, culture, and outcomes. We have created a rhythm of accountability and pride, where every staff member knows they are part of something bigger than a job. We are rebuilding an institution, piece by piece and section by section, with teamwork at the center of it all. Most importantly, we have built a strong internal culture where our administrative and grounds teams work in full concert with one another. Our operations are fully integrated - from grave layout and record keeping to burial scheduling and monument installation - ensuring nothing falls through the cracks and families receive seamless, professional service.
Visible, Measurable Progress
The changes across the grounds are no longer subtle - they’re undeniable. We’re currently in the process of restoring Section 26, one of the oldest and most complex areas of the cemetery, marked by pre-vault burials, severe coffin collapse, tightly packed headstones, and unpredictable footing that made restoration and preservation hazardous. Through careful grading, the donation of seed and fertilizer generously offered by Lowe’s (who reached out on their own accord), and an order of topsoil from our neighbors S.M. Gallivan, the section is being rebuilt, stabilized, and made safe again. Today, Section 26 is once again walkable - a space of dignity instead of decline. We have reopened long-closed roads and bridges, improving access for thousands of families who visit each year. On Middle Ridge - where entire roadways had been lost to erosion and slipped into ravines - we rebuilt passageways once considered gone for good, restoring safe access to some of the cemetery’s most historic terrain. We built a structured, smarter mowing and landscaping schedule for all 467 acres. We reset stones, we’re clearing the overgrowth, repairing infrastructure, and modernizing our workflows. This progress stands in sharp contrast to the mindset of years past, when the response to limited resources was to close off sections and scale back care. We chose a different path. We accepted that we had less - and decided to do more anyway. We committed to restoring and preserving every part of this landscape with intention, creativity, and grit. And the results speak for themselves. Roads once barricaded are open. Sections once overgrown are now walkable. Stones once leaning are standing tall again. The work is visible, measurable, and real. You can see what we’ve accomplished with limited means. Now imagine what we could continue to build - and how much further we could go - with your support. Not out of charity, not out of obligation, but out of shared stewardship for a national landmark that belongs to all of us. In the administrative office, we transitioned to modern cemetery software, improved customer responsiveness, and streamlined recordkeeping. From burial coordination to interment tracking, digital mapping to archival research, our systems now reflect the complexity and historical significance of ARC.
Our oversight - financial, operational, and administrative - is stronger than ever: transparent, organized, disciplined, and genuinely hands-on. We are tighter in our controls, clearer in our processes, and more intentional in every decision we make.
Projects That Shape ARC’s Future
Several major initiatives are now underway that will define the next era of our cemetery: A new crematorium - modern, efficient, environmentally responsible - will soon be operational, replacing outdated equipment and expanding service capacity for families across the region.
A Verizon cell tower is being installed on our property, bringing both improved local coverage and an important new revenue stream to support cemetery operations. The staff continues to work section by section, restoring this historic landscape to its days of grandeur. It is slow, honest work - but it is real, visible, and transformative. We work smarter, not harder - but the truth is, we work very hard. And we proudly do it because we understand what this land means to the community, to the history of Albany, and to every family whose loved one rests here. This is sacred ground, and we treat it that way.
Stewardship, Trust, and the Human Side of Cemetery Work
Restoring a cemetery is more than cutting grass or straightening stones. It’s about restoring trust – with families, with the community, and with the legacy of those who came before us. Stories found throughout Section 26 remind us of the gravity of our responsibility. One such figure is Jeremiah Whitehead, an English-born master carriage and hearse maker whose craftsmanship shaped Albany’s 19th-century streetscape and, by extension, its funeral and livery traditions. His family lot sits among the immigrant tradesmen, early Albany households, and veterans who built the fabric of the city. Restoring their markers and stabilizing their ground isn’t just landscape work; it’s the preservation of the very people who carried Albany forward. Every stone we uncover, straighten, or return to dignity reinforces our mission: every person buried here deserves care, and every family deserves honesty, respect, and compassion. There are tradesmen, immigrants, early civic leaders, artists, veterans, mothers, fathers, and children buried in Section 26 and beyond. Their stories guide our work. Their stones call us to be better stewards.
Preserving Our Architectural Legacy
Our restoration work hasn’t been limited to the landscape. Albany Rural Cemetery is home to several historic structures designed by the renowned Albany architect Marcus T. Reynolds, whose work defined much of the Capital Region’s early 20th-century architectural identity. These buildings - from our gatehouse to administrative structures - are not just functional spaces; they are artifacts of regional design history. In recent months, we have begun stabilizing and repairing these properties, addressing long-deferred restoration and preservation, improving drainage around foundations, restoring masonry, and planning for the preservation of their original architectural details. One particularly symbolic project is the ongoing restoration of Linden Lodge, our South Gatehouse. Originally designed by Reynolds himself, Linden Lodge is now being carefully restored under the direction of our Buildings & Grounds Superintendent, Dan Neet. In addition to being a skilled craftsman, Dan is also a local artist and musician, widely known as the lead singer of Albany’s The Clay People. That a local artist is now preserving the legacy of another local artist - decades apart - is a poetic reminder of how creativity and care can span generations. The work being done at Linden Lodge reinforces our belief that ARC isn’t just a cemetery; it’s a living archive of art, history, and community pride.
Thank you Tim for helping our community become more familiar with Albany Rural Cemetery. It is a truly special and sacred resting place. I discovered and fell in love with it a few years ago and am always captivated by it's beauty. I hope everyone who reads this will feel moved to donate time or funds to help bring Albany Rural back to its original glory. Thank you and your dedicated team for all you've done on this seemingly endless task. I know from our visits that so much progress has been made and continues to be made.
