Did you know that The Aspin Hill Memorial Park, formally The Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery, was once a breeding kennel for miniature Schnauzers! The Champion  producing kennel that was here in the early 1920's was named after a kennel in England (thus Aspin instead of Aspen) and was owned by Richard C. and Bertha T. Birney.

The Birney's had  buried some of their own pets on the property and were asked by their friends and neighbors if they would be allowed to bury their pets as well. That is how The Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery started. The first recorded burial was a Saint Bernard owned by J. G. Croun on August 18, 1920.

The Birney family sold the property to a veterinarian, Dr. Edgar Ruebush, in 1946 and Dr. Ruebush then sold the property to S. Alfred Nash, a local embalmer in 1961. The Nash family had the cemetery till 1988.

1988 is when PETA acquired it through private donations. PETA is responsible for the name change to Memorial Park instead of Pet Cemetery, and for getting it registered with the Historic Society.

PETA donated the property to The Chesapeake Wildlife Sanctuary in February 1996 and we have been running the business since.

The cemetery still has plots available for purchase and does an average of  2 to 3 burials a week.

James Thompson has worked many jobs but none that had more meaning. He has worked at the Cemetery for over 31 years! He started here in September 1968 and still digs each and every grave site by hand. Of course we have offered to supply him with machines and equipment to dig the graves but he insists he wants to do it by hand.  James says the day he uses a machine to dig for him is the day he gets old. He says he has to stay active and physical because he does not want to retire.

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