{"nrhp_refnum":"03000999","name":"African Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"North St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rye","county":"Westchester County","state":"NY","lat":40.97618386800008,"lon":-73.70297050799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-10-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1.4-acre African-American burial ground on North Street in Rye, Westchester County, New York, established in 1860 on former farmland deeded to the Town of Rye and adjacent to Greenwood Union Cemetery.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a large, intact example of a nineteenth-century African-American burial ground in Westchester County. It holds 160 gravestones, 35 of them marking Black veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II. It reflects local anti-slavery sentiment and Methodist and AME Zion church influence in Rye.","narrative":"Set along North Street in Rye, this 1.4-acre burial ground was created in 1860 when farmer Underhill Halsted and his wife Elizabeth deeded land to the Town of Rye for use as a cemetery for the area's Black residents. Burials ran from 1864 to 1964. A dry-laid fieldstone wall frames a cleared rectangle of lawn holding 160 headstones, about half of which have tilted, fallen or sunk. Thirty-five mark veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II, most from the Civil War. Some stones carry fraternal order or labor union inscriptions, and two ministers are buried here. The site is significant for ethnic heritage as a large, well-preserved nineteenth-century African-American burial ground, at a time when Black residents were often denied burial in cemeteries. The deed reflects local Methodist and anti-slavery sentiment, including nearby AME Zion churches. Town and Rye Historical Society restoration plans aim to document the families buried here.","period_of_significance":"1860 - 1964","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Owned and maintained by the Town of Rye. About half of the 160 headstones are tilted, fallen or sunken, and the fieldstone wall is crumbling. Vines and brush are encroaching on the plots. The last burial took place in 1964, and restoration is planned.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.798728-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/03000999.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000999/cc4aa819db-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000999/cc4aa819db-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RyeNY_AfricanCemetery_BellFamilyPlot.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RyeNY_AfricanCemetery_BellFamilyPlot.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322937","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rye_African-American_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4689715"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/westchester-county/african-cemetery-03000999/"}