Amherst West Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Triangle Street in Amherst. The 4-acre cemetery was first laid out in 1730 when the voters of Hadley elected to establish a new burying ground in its eastern precinct. When the area was separated from Amherst in 1786, the property was taken over by the newly established town. In addition to being the burial site of many of Amherst's early settlers and American Civil War veterans (both white and African American), it is also the burial site of members of the Dickinson family, most notably the poet Emily Dickinson. Their family plot is set off from the rest of the cemetery by a wrought iron fence.