A cemetery in Nesquehoning that dates back to the 1800s is in need of some love and care.

The Protestant Cemetery, located on Center Street across from the VFW, has sat quietly for years with no board to oversee the upkeep of the grounds. A company was hired to cut the grass, but other than that, no other maintenance has been done. The cemetery is the western half of that land, with the eastern half being a Catholic cemetery.

Recently, Meeds Memorial United Methodist Church representatives, as well as the Nesquehoning Historical Society, has made it their mission to make sure the cemetery gets the maintenance it needs, documents the graves for historical and burial information and builds a board that will take up the charge to oversee the upkeep for years to come.

The Protestant Cemetery is made up of three churches - Meeds, Zion Lutheran and First Baptist - but the only church that remains in existence today is Meeds.

Lois Kuba, president of the Nesquehoning Historical Society, said that the society would help the board if one is formed to maintain the cemetery.

“We definitely have to maintain the history and we have to get back to the grassroots with it, who was on the board, who can we still reach out to, is there any finances left,” Kuba said. “We have a lot of digging left to do.”

She added that the historical society is a resource for the town and historian Joseph Roman is currently cataloging the cemeteries in town to help with an additional source of historical information.

“We can’t just let the cemetery completely go,” Kuba said. “We need to create a board to help with the Protestant Cemetery.”

Mary Fox of Meeds UMC said that there are log books for over 100 years, but the board seemingly disappeared nearly three decades ago and some residents were only hiring companies to cut the grass.

“We’re looking to start a board to maintain it,” she said.

If you are interested in helping with the board to oversee the Protestant Cemetery, a meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on April 6 at Meeds UMC at 126 W. Catawissa St., Nesquehoning.

If you can’t make the meeting but would like to help, you can also call the church at 570-669-9212 and leave a message addressed to Fox.

Other items that are also being discussed is a possible cleanup of the grounds before Memorial Day.