Directions:

From Oak Hall, take Brush Valley Road for 2.1 miles toward Centre Hall, cemetery will be on your left next to the old church in Linden Hall, Centre County, PA.

History:

Rock Hill Cemetery was established in 1836 on a corner of the Johathan Dressler farm and became the final resting place for Linden Hall's earliest settlers. According to Linn, the

Evangelical Church in Linden Hall was built about 1850. The booklet Sketches of Linden Hall indicated that the land was deeded from the Dresslers in 1853 for the purpose of a church. During 1880 a schism developed in the conference of the

Evangelical Association churches, and two factions emerged-- The Esherites and the Dubsites. Eventually the Esherite branch prevailed and filed legal claim to the church property. The dubsites formed a new denomination to be know as the United Evangelical Church. On August 29, 1897, John T. Ross and his wife Mary Ann deeded land to the trustees to be used for the United Evangelical Church. This land was on the corner of their lane, across from the original Evangelical Church. By 1933 the Esher building was torn down due to its poor condition. Remaining on the opposite corner was the Dubsite church, which still stands today. The site of the Esherite church is the open area which is now between Cemetery and Brush Valley road.

In 1949, the Linden Hall Garden Club organized and set as its first purpose the reclamation and maintenance of the cemetery. There have been no new burials since that time. The garden club maintains the lovely perennial garden in front of the cemetery, on the site of the former Esher church building.

In 1980 Tom Hymer of Boalsburg Boy Scout Troop 380 took on the project of restoring the cemetery as his Eagle Scout project. Tom's project included cleaning the lichen from the stones and then coating the stones with a sealant to preserve them. Several stones were also straightened and re-glued, with help and the advise from David Sarver of the Centre Hall Marble and Granite Works.

In 1997, a new fence was erected around the perimeter of the cemetery.

Sources:

1. Linn, John Blair. History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania. L. H. Everts 1883 page 319

2. Sketches of Linden Hall, 1980, pages 37-38

3. Newspaper article dated November 13, 1980 from files of the Centre County Library.

3. The Cemeteries of Harris Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Printed by the Centre County Genealogy Society in 1998 pages 69-70