{"nrhp_refnum":"01001064","name":"Burlington 37 Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Center St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Burlington","county":"Lawrence County","state":"OH","lat":38.411396453000066,"lon":-82.51987826999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Other"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small, active African-American burial ground of about .89 acres on Center Street in Burlington, Lawrence County, Ohio, on land once held by freed slaves from James Twyman's Virginia plantation. Burials probably began in the 1850s.","why_significant":"The cemetery is tied to the Burlington 37, a group of slaves freed under James Twyman's 1848 will who relocated to Ohio in 1849 and bought land in common. It is the only place with direct physical and historical associations with this group. It is nominated under Criterion A for Ohio social history and the Underground Railroad, and under Criteria Consideration D as a cemetery.","narrative":"Burlington 37 Cemetery is a small burial ground of about .89 acres in a residential neighborhood in Burlington, Ohio. It holds roughly 250 graves, many belonging to freed slaves and their descendants. In 1848, Virginia slave owner James Twyman left instructions in his will to free thirty-seven of his slaves and fund their move to a free state. The group left Virginia in 1849, traveled through West Virginia, and bought 640 acres in Ohio under the leadership of Thomas Walker Fry. The cemetery lies on a small part of that land. Earliest burials probably date to the 1850s, and the oldest known markers belong to the Toms family. Susan Twyman Gordon, the last of the original group, was buried in 1942. Headstones include stone monuments and commercial and homemade concrete markers, with graves oriented east-west. The site was listed for its role in Ohio social history and the Underground Railroad, as the only place directly tied to this community.","period_of_significance":"1849-1942","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Active cemetery with approximately 250 graves and about thirty-five plots still available; enclosed by chain link fencing and regularly maintained.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.483766-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/01001064.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71985646","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lawrence-county/burlington-37-cemetery-01001064/"}