The Old Ida Hill Cemetery, or Original Mount Ida Cemetery, or Troy Burying Ground, etc. is/was located at the foot (south and southwest) of Cypress Street, Birch Street, Walnut Street, and Hale (formerly Elm) Street. First interment was in 1814, and burials were rare by the 1860s and none seem to have occurred after 1870.

A city ordinance was passed in 1919 to remove or bury the headstones and the area was bulldozed in September 1990. The bodies and headstones are presumed to still be there.

There's a number of similarly-named cemeteries within a short distance of each other:

* Mount Ida Cemetery on Pawling Avenue (est. 1832; burials still occur there, but only rarely)

* Mount Ida Catholic Cemetery on Pawling Avenue (adjoining the Mount Ida Cemetery south of where Balsam Avenue ends but lacking a sign to identify it or a fence to delineate it) (est. 1835; burials were rare by the 1870s-1890s and none have occurred after 1900)

* New Mount Ida Cemetery on Pinewoods Avenue (est. 1853; burials might still occur there, but only rarely)

* Elmwood Hill Cemetery on Belle Avenue (behind/north of the New Mount Ida Cemetery) (still an active cemetery and the only one of these that maintains an office)

* New Mount Ida Cemetery and Elmwood Hill Cemetery both have several different Jewish cemeteries on their eastern borders

"This burial ground, east of Mount Ida and west of Ida Falls, the entrance to which is at the foot of Chestnut Street [now Birch Street], south of Congress Street, was given to the trustees of the village by Stephen Van Rensselaer, in 1814. The deed conveying it to the village authorities is dated, January 20, 1815. In the neglected grave-yard is a head-stone on which is inscribed: 'In memory of Mr. George Young, who died November 6, 1814. AE. 55 years. Note.—The subject of the above inscription is the first person whose mortal remains have been deposited in this burying ground.'"

Weise, Arthur James. The City of Troy and Its Vicinity. Troy, NY: Edward Green, 1886. 54.

"There is a decided confusion of cemetery names in Troy, there being three places of interment known as 'Mount Ida.' The epitaphs which follow are from the oldest one of the three, which is situated on the eastern slope of Prospect park on the picturesque high bank of the Poestenkill. It lies less than one mile southeasterly from the city hall and may be reached by leaving the Congress street car line at Cypress street.

"Owing to vandalism, many of the stones have been utterly destroyed and many inscriptions have been obliterated; yet dates from these stones, supplemented with obituaries to be found in the long but somewhat incomplete files of the early Troy and Lansingburgh newspapers at the Troy Public Library furnish genealogists and historians valuable and unique aids to their knowledge of Troy's early settlers. These records antedate any vital statistics at the city hall and are much earlier than the date (1829) of Troy's first directory. Transcripts only are given, unless the full epitaph is significant or noteworthy. The original copy may be consulted by applying to the Philip Schuyler chapter under whose supervision the transcriptions have been made. This list is believed to be as correct a one as can be obtained. It was made in May, 1916, and corrected by a list made by another genealogist in June, 1916. Some inconsistencies may be accounted for as errors in stone-cutting.

"According to Sylvester's History of Rensselaer County, the land for this cemetery, three and four-tenths acres, was a gift to the city by Stephen Van Rensselaer. The first interment is said to have been that of 'Mr. George Young, who died November 5, 1814, aged fifty-five years.' Here also lie men who served in the Revolution and in the War of 1812, worthy citizens and founders of Troy. Probably here also rests Samuel Wilson, whose familiar appellation of "Uncle Sam" gave to the United States its soubriquet."

"Troy's Oldest Burying Ground; On the Eastern Slope of Prospect Park; In Use a Century Ago; The Philip Schuyler Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Makes Valuable Contribution to Historical Troy—Epitaphs Copied from Gravestones—In Sad State of Decay." Troy Record. July 6, 1916

An incomplete list of interments compiled in 1915 or 1916 (which had appeared in slightly different form in the above article) is online at . There are some typos; e.g. for "ROBERTS, William, died Feb 1 1888" the year of death should read 1838.

Headstones removed or buried in 1919:

"The following ordinances were adopted:

"By Alderman McCune—Directing the Commissioner of Public Works to improve the grounds of Mount Ida Cemetery at the foot of Cypress Street, by seeding, grading and removing or burying the old tombstones."

"Improvement Ordinances." Troy Daily Times. May 2, 1919: 5 col 3.

Cemetery bulldozed in September 1990:

"a group of 15 gathered at the former graveyard to lament the city's decision to bulldoze the site in September to remove illegally dumped debris and knock down weeds that hid the dumpers and provided cover for parties."

Nelson, Steve. "15 meet at burial ground, lament bulldozing of site." Daily Gazette [Schenectady, NY]. November 13, 1990: B4 cols 1-3.

"the city bulldozed the old burying ground, uprooted 20 or 30 trees and created yet another vacant lot. City officials defended the action by saying neighbors had complained about trash dumping and late-night beer parties. [...] After the bulldozing, [Marianne] Briggs ["a local historian and cemetery enthusiast"] and other activists found fragments of headstones - two said 'Henry' and 'Cath' - and unidentified bone. Neighborstold them of finding bones, even pieces of skull, in the field, though the city maintains that all bodies were disinterred in 1905."

Kurp, Patrick. "Troy's cemeteries, like their occupants, fading away." Albany Times Union. July 26, 1992: D6.