{"nrhp_refnum":"03000382","name":"High Street Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"45 High St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Danvers","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.564104103000034,"lon":-70.93405332299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-05-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"High Street Cemetery is a small, inactive municipal burial ground of about 6 acres at 45 High Street in the town center of Danvers, Massachusetts. Its earliest known grave dates to 1758 and the last known interments were in 1929.","why_significant":"The cemetery is judged locally significant for its strong associations with the early settlement and history of Danvers (Criterion A) and as a well-preserved New England burial ground showing changing funerary styles from the Colonial period to the early 20th century (Criterion C). It holds the graves of prominent early citizens and veterans of five wars, and includes work attributed to known gravestone carvers. It qualifies under the cemetery criteria consideration.","narrative":"High Street Cemetery is a six-acre municipal burial ground on High Street in the center of Danvers, Massachusetts. It probably began as a private burial plot for the Porter family and later became known as the Plains Graveyard before the town bought it in 1870. About 127 grave markers survive, dated 1758 to 1875, roughly three-quarters marble and one-quarter slate. The slate stones carry willow, urn and winged-soul carvings. A low granite and fieldstone wall encloses the grounds, and an iron entrance gate bears the date 1843. The cemetery holds the graves of prominent early residents and of veterans of the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War and Spanish-American War. Some markers have been attributed to gravestone carvers Levi Maxcy Jr. and the Park brothers. A World War I field gun dedicated in 1938 serves as a Spanish-American War memorial and the focus of Memorial Day observances. The site was listed for its local historical associations and its illustration of New England burial traditions.","period_of_significance":"1758-1953","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as inactive and generally well maintained, though some stones are leaning, broken, fallen or weathered. Veterans' graves carry bronze plaques and are decorated annually, and Memorial Day services are held there.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.60782-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/6/7950/63795006/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/03000382.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000382/c4940cb8fa-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000382/c4940cb8fa-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Fletcher6","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:High_Street_Cemetery.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Fletcher6</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:High_Street_Cemetery.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795006","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Street_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5757188"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/high-street-cemetery-03000382/"}