This is the fifth year of the Presbyterian Church Graveyard Tour. Having sold out in the previous four years, the tour winds its way through the church’s burying ground. It touches on the Old Bethany Cemetery, from the North Fork Community Theatre to the Mattituck Presbyterian Church. Actors dressed in historically appropriate costumes recite scripts based on historical research of the people whose graves on which they stand.

Seeing the interest in the tour, Mary Kalich, one of the theatre’s board of directors, considered cooperating with the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Historical Council to conduct a similar tour to Mattituck’s in the Cutchogue Old Burying Ground, which is owned, operated and maintained by the Council.

This tour will be conducted on Sept.30, 2023 (Rain Date: October 8), a week before the Mattituck tour, and will follow a similar format, except the Cutchogue burying ground isn’t connected to any buildings. Like the Mattituck tour, Cutchogue’s will highlight historically significant figures who influenced the colonization and founding of the towns on the North Fork. Elaborately dressed in black, silent Victorian widows will guide guests through the tour, which will be introduced with the history of the burying ground, as told by the Victorian undertaker.

There are a few more significant differences in the tour. While Mattituck’s tour celebrates Civil and Revolutionary War veterans, the Cutchogue tour includes veterans of an even earlier war, the French and Indian War, or the Seven Years War. Two companies from the North Fork were sent to the Allegheny River area in Pennsylvania to fight as loyal British subjects in a significant battle that set the stage for the Revolutionary War and served as a training ground for a familiar Revolutionary War general. (Hint: also our first president.)

Another difference between the tours is that the Cutchogue tour will tell the stories of two enslaved people buried at the site. These stories will be told through their enslavers.

Amongst many other stories, you’ll hear a heartbreaking Revolutionary War story of a local family who was torn apart and lost everything.

So, even if you’ve been on the Mattituck tour, the Cutchogue tour offers a different experience. And if you haven’t been on either tour, and the Cutchogue tour sells out, there’s always the Mattituck tour the following week.

Either way, both tours are an entertaining way to learn about local history, have a fun new experience, and get yourself in the mood for the Halloween season.

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Brown Paper Tickets. For tickets, click here for the Cutchogue tour. Click here for the Mattituck tour.