{"nrhp_refnum":"04000933","name":"Brigham Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"off W. Main St. near Crescent St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marlborough","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.34182961400006,"lon":-71.55941951199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-09-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Brigham Cemetery is a 1.12-acre municipal burial ground off West Main Street in southwest Marlborough, Massachusetts, with burials from 1793 to 1934. The land was given to the Unitarian Society in 1808 by Ephraim Brigham.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the cemetery reflects Marlborough's social history, including its origins as a burial place for smallpox victims, close family ties and high infant mortality. It also illustrates the 19th-century shift from burial ground to cemetery with family lots, and the change from slate to marble to granite markers. It holds the graves of 19 Revolutionary War and seven Civil War veterans.","narrative":"Brigham Cemetery is a small neighborhood burial ground of 1.12 acres in southwest Marlborough, reached by a narrow turf path from West Main Street and bordered by two large Catholic cemeteries. Its earliest documented burial, in 1793, was that of Captain William and Lydia Brigham, who died of smallpox and were reportedly refused burial in the town cemeteries. The land was given to the Unitarian Society in 1808 and passed to the town after 1855. About 187 headstones and 12 family monuments, mostly from the 19th century, show the move from slate with willow-and-urn carving to marble with Gothic and floral motifs, then to polished granite. The largest is a 12-foot granite obelisk. Epitaphs record family losses and the high rate of infant mortality. The graves include 19 Revolutionary War and seven Civil War veterans. The cemetery was listed for its link to local social history and for its reflection of changing New England funerary design.","period_of_significance":"1793 - 1934","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Generally well maintained, though some gravestones have been lost; marble markers have toppled, broken or eroded. Not considered an active cemetery, with only occasional 20th-century burials in existing family lots.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.419387-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/83/7960/63796083/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/04000933.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000933/4e8b3cbf68-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000933/4e8b3cbf68-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brigham_Cemetery.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</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:Brigham_Cemetery.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796083","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4967293"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/brigham-cemetery-04000933/"}