On August 7th, 1858 the town voted to purchase some land near the west village for a new cemetery. Elisha S. Jackson, John W. Hill, and Francis Richardson, were a committee for that purpose. They bought ten acres of land. Around 8 from Dea. Asa Perley and two from S.W. Bancroft. The land was west of Crystal Lake and is called Crystal Lake Cemetery.

There are many notable people buried here, many of which left there influence on the city. Such as members of the Bancroft family, which Bancroft St. is named after. Some members of the Heywood family who were major influence on chair manufacturing. A large memorial for the Watkins can also be found here. The Watkins founded Simplex Time Recorder Company in Gardner and were very successful running a multimillion dollar business.

Crystal Lake itself was used as a drinking water supply and harvested for ice at a time where iceboxes had to be used to keep things cold.