Experience a natural resting place with significant history and abundant nature. Established circa 1700, Steelmantown Cemetery is a Revolutionary War-era property located within Upper Township, New Jersey.

Ed Bixby—the founder of Destination Destiny and a life-long resident of the area—counts generations of relatives buried in the cemetery. But when he visited the seven-acre property in 2007, he discovered an overgrown, abused and damaged scene.

Determined to restore dignity to this resting place of so many, Ed contacted the owner and was greeted with the proposition that he assumes the care of the cemetery.

The original custodians of the property—the Steelmantown Southern Baptist Church—had burned to the ground years before, which explained the location’s sorry condition.

Recognizing the potential for the site, Ed eagerly accepted responsibility for revitalizing the property and first converted the site’s schoolhouse into a chapel. The comprehensive renovation effort also included restoring graves that had fallen into disrepair and building scenic trails.

The restoration also provided the opportunity to use the remaining space for the benefit of families intent on honoring a departed loved one with a green burial.

An ideal location for natural burials

Today, an All Faiths Chapel resides on the grounds of Steelmantown Cemetery. A site of considerable peace, history and beauty, it is forested by massive oak, cedar and pine trees running alongside natural cedar bogs.

Accenting its serenity, hundreds of natural, undeveloped acres of New Jersey’s Belleplain State Forest surround the location.

Steelmantown Cemetery
101 Steelmantown Road, Steelmantown, NJ 08270
(609) 628-2297

Special Features

Preservation Memorial Walk
Help us preserve and protect these precious surroundings by supporting the building of a memorial that will line the entrance of the ecotrail. The stone you purchase may be engraved and the 1′ x 1′ plot it rests on may be used for the burial of cremated remains.

​Services

• Burial site opening and closing
• All Faith Chapel for burial services
• Chapel available onsite
• Off-trail natural burial ground
• Eco trails
• Cremated remains burial
• Tree of life cremated remains burial
• Natural full body burial
• Advanced reservations are available

Availability

Historic Meadow

• 3’ x 10’ single burial plot

​Off-Trail

• 5’ x 10’ single full body burial plot
• 10’ x 10’ full body double interment plot
• 3′ x 3′ tree of life cremated remains plot

Memorial Walk

• 1′ x 1′ cremated remains burial plot

Learn More About Steelmantown Cemetery

The Green Burial Experience by Tanya Kenevich, American Cemetery
My father joined an ecosystem at Steelmantown Cemetery by Ann Hoffner, Green Burial Naturally
Steelmantown Cemetery, Upper Township, NJ by Thomas A. Parmalee, Green Funeral Service Desk Reference
Steelmantown Has State’s Lone ‘Green’ Cemetery, by Camille Sailer, Cape May County Herald
Steelmantown Cemetery Green Burial Preserve by Fertig Funeral Home, YouTube Video
History of the Ten Villages of Upper Township: the village of Steelmantown by Robert F. Holden, Historical Society of Upper Township, The Gazette