diff --git a/pelican/tools/templates/Makefile.in b/pelican/tools/templates/Makefile.in
index c16fd7c0..35c41bb7 100644
--- a/pelican/tools/templates/Makefile.in
+++ b/pelican/tools/templates/Makefile.in
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ help:
 	@echo '   make publish                     generate using production settings '
 	@echo '   make serve                       serve site at http://localhost:8000'
 	@echo '   make devserver                   start/restart develop_server.sh    '
+	@echo '   make stopserver                  stop local server                  '
 	@echo '   ssh_upload                       upload the web site via SSH        '
 	@echo '   rsync_upload                     upload the web site via rsync+ssh  '
 	@echo '   dropbox_upload                   upload the web site via Dropbox    '
@@ -54,6 +55,11 @@ serve:
 devserver:
 	$$(BASEDIR)/develop_server.sh restart
 
+stopserver:
+_   kill -9 `cat pelican.pid`
+_   kill -9 `cat srv.pid`
+_   @echo 'Stopped Pelican and SimpleHTTPServer processes running in background.
+
 publish:
 	$$(PELICAN) $$(INPUTDIR) -o $$(OUTPUTDIR) -s $$(PUBLISHCONF) $$(PELICANOPTS)