Little Harbor - Stone Seawall

The stone Cuba Dam was built in the Spring of 1765 to create pasture land. Its name honors England's victorious capture of Havana from Spain in 1762. Later, in 1804, a tidal barrage sluice was created across Sandy Beach to the sea. The sliding gate transformed nearly 100 acres into a pasture rented to nearby farmers. During the Great Minot's Light Gale of 1851, waves washed over the dam and made Little Harbor into the current large sandy-bottomed inlet.

STONE SEAWALL

In 2019, the Board of Directors took preventive action to address the impact of rising sea levels and storm surges. Given its proximity to Little Harbor, flooding often impacted the northeast side of the cemetery and its gravestones. The board demonstrated much forethought and leadership to mitigate the property and raise the ground above vulnerable gravesites by constructing a 500-foot granite wall by the water's edge. Its solution serves as a national prototype for other cemeteries threatened by climate change.