An historic cemetery should never be left to become blighted or an eyesore.

With that belief in hand, the Williamsport Cemetery Company is working toward refurbishing the main entrance to Williamsport Cemetery, a 7.1 acre historic resting place along Washington Boulevard and Railway Street.

A grant and local gifts will go a long way toward preserving the burial site entrance where many of the city’s historic figures and others who served in the military and were among prominent city residents, were interred, said Charles Luppert, treasurer of the Williamsport Cemetery Company.

The grant, from the Williamsport-Lycoming Community Fund and the Dr. Randall F. Hipple Fund at the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania (FCFP), along with donations from area organizations and businesses, will make it possible to restore the main entrance stone pillars at the cemetery, which is a landmark.

Volunteers have taken it upon themselves to clean up, reset stones and put flags out during Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and hold ceremonies such as those by Wreaths Across America at the cemetery.

“It is a shame the gates and pillars got into this condition,” Luppert said.

Williamsport’s oldest existing cemetery was established in 1850 by prominent citizens — Abraham Updegraff and Samuel H. Lloyd.

The Williamsport Cemetery Co. was formed in 1863.

The pillars, gates and surrounding fences were erected in 1908 in large part from a bequest made by William H. Sloan, a past secretary and treasurer of the Williamsport Cemetery Co.

Avondale marble pillars that are 114 years old support the iron gates that have shifted, slanted and are in need of stabilization and restoration to last another century, Luppert said.

“We as a board of managers extend our appreciation to all — including a number of nearby businesses — for making this much needed restoration a reality,” Luppert said.

The board of managers consist of Greg Forsburg, Bruce Huffman, Luppert, Peachie O’Connor and William Welter.

It is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(13) nonprofit mutual cemetery company, enabling donations to generally be tax deductible to the donor.

Luppert expressed his hope that the restoration will make the community proud.

The cemetery is where more than 3,500 souls have been interred. In the cemetery are 187 military veterans ranging from the Revolutionary War through the Korean wars.

Among its notable interments are Michael Ross, considered to be founder and proprietor of Williamsport; the Rev. Benjamin H. Crever, founder of the Williamsport Dickinson Seminary, the predecessor of Lycoming College and President Abraham Lincoln’s chaplain; William F. Packer, the 14th governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; George K. Harris, 24th mayor of Williamsport and many other notables.

Williamsport Cemetery is tended to by volunteers — there is no endowment or annual funding to support the maintenance of the grounds, said Erin E. Ruhl, Director of Community Engagement at First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania.

Portions of the cemetery are in decay, including the columns for the outward gates, Ruhl said.

Further collapse of the columns will inhibit visitors as the site would no longer be safe, she said.

“One of a community foundation’s purposes is to retain and promote an appreciation of community history and to the educational benefit of the general public,” Ruhl said.