{"nrhp_refnum":"04000025","name":"Rumney Marsh Burying Ground","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Butler St. at Elm and Bixby Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Revere","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.407616931000064,"lon":-71.00579061699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-02-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small colonial-era burying ground of about 0.57 acres on Butler Street in Revere, Massachusetts, in use from about 1693 through 1930. It is enclosed by a granite wall and contains mostly slate gravestones.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a well-preserved early Massachusetts community burying ground, with its natural topography, irregular stone layout and perimeter paths intact. Its gravestones, notably an unusually high concentration of 18th-century slates with winged skull motifs, illustrate the history of American gravestone art. It is also believed to be the first burying ground established north of the Mystic River and served present-day Revere, Chelsea and Winthrop.","narrative":"Rumney Marsh Burying Ground is a small cemetery of roughly half an acre on Butler Street in Revere, Massachusetts. Burials began around 1693, and it stayed in active use through 1930. Although mid-20th-century ranch houses now surround it, the burying ground keeps its rolling ground, irregular rows of stones, brick perimeter paths and a granite wall added in the late 1930s. Most markers are dark slate, and the collection includes an unusually high number of 18th-century stones carved with winged skulls and cherubs. Two early slates are attributed to the carver Joseph Lamson. Later urn-and-willow designs from the 19th century also appear. Among those buried here is Deane Winthrop, son of Massachusetts Bay Colony governor John Winthrop. The ground is believed to be the first established north of the Mystic River and served what are now Revere, Chelsea and Winthrop. Its stones form a visible chronology of New England gravestone art.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as well maintained and in generally good condition, though some stones are broken, eroded or tipping and volunteer trees are damaging walls and stones. It remains a cemetery.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.617587-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7970/63797048/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/04000025.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000025/76726bcf74-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000025/76726bcf74-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rumney_Marsh_Burying_Ground_HS_Revere_MA_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</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:Rumney_Marsh_Burying_Ground_HS_Revere_MA_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797048","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumney_Marsh_Burying_Ground","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7379324"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/rumney-marsh-burying-ground-04000025/"}