History of Pine Brook Cemetery

Pine Brook cemetery is an outgrowth of the churchyard of the original A.M.E. Macedonia Zion Church.  On April 19, 1850 the congregation elected seven men as trustees of the A.M.E.  Macedonia Zion Church. On April 1, 1851 those trustees purchased an acre of land from Lawrence Earle on which they were to erect a church for the congregation. A church was built on the property, and by July 1852 the churchyard was being used for burial purposes.  About 1884 the present St. Thomas A.M.E. Zion Church was erected at the intersection of Squankum and Hamilton Roads. The original churchyard continued to be used for burials, and over time came to be known as Pine Brook Cemetery. Many of the graves include veterans dating back to the Civil War.  Gravestones are distributed throughout the acre, with many unmarked depressions and random fieldstone markers suggesting that many others are buried there.  The graveyard has often been overgrown and barely accessible. Over the last three decades Eagle Scout Projects have periodically revitalized the cemetery. Projects have been done in 1978, 1998, and 2009.  To this day flags are still placed there on veteran holidays by local veteran groups. (Elva E. Duncan and Edward J. Raser, Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey January 2000 Edition.) (Monmouth County Historical Assoc. Library & Archives)