I stumbled onto a real gem last weekend, when I walked thru Evergreen Cemetery in Rutland Town. Evergreen straddles the line between my hometown - Rutland City - and the surrounding Rutland Town; the trees visible from the road had always intrigued me, but I had never ventured in to explore. So I decided to make it my 251 Town Birder site for Rutland Town, and see what lay within. I was not disappointed.

Most cemeteries - both early and modern - are designed to maximize the number of burials within a given parcel of land. Evergreen is one of those cemeteries which opened in the 1870s and was designed as a parkland, offering both the living and the deceased a peaceful and beautiful place to spend an eternity. The cemetery hosts many of Rutland's prominent families, expansive plots that were planted with cedars, pines and ornamentals, and boasting monuments that seek to outdo the others. After 100+ years, the cedar hedges have become living colonnades, the pines offer high canopies, and the oaks would be envied by shipbuilders.

In addition to the impressive monuments and plantings, Evergreen Cemetery offers innumerable quiet plots, sequestered in woodland glades and little hollows. I swear, this cemetery has more nooks and crannies than a Thomas's English Muffin! Rarely used paths go off up and around every hill, and explore every glade; I was there an hour, and surely saw only half of the cemetery. I'll add photos shortly.

Evergreen Cemetery is located on US-4 Business in Center Rutland, at the City/Town line. It is worth the visit.

A typical woodland checklist:
American Crow 1
Blue Jay 4
Black-capped Chickadee 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
American Robin 4
Mourning Dove 2 (how appropriate)
Gray Catbird 2
Common Grackle 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Winter Wren 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
American Goldfinch 2