{"nrhp_refnum":"04001114","name":"Spring Hill Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"High and Brown Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marlborough","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.347839236000056,"lon":-71.54383267403863,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-10-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Spring Hill Cemetery is a 2.62-acre municipal burying ground at High and Brown Streets in Marlborough, Massachusetts, with about 650 recorded burials from 1675 to 1977. It is Marlborough's first burial ground.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is tied to the early history of Marlborough as the town's first burial ground, including 40 Revolutionary War and five Civil War veterans. It also illustrates New England funerary art over nearly 300 years, especially Colonial and Federal slate headstones with varied carving styles and epitaphs.","narrative":"Spring Hill Cemetery is Marlborough's oldest burial ground, a 2.62-acre triangular parcel near the eastern edge of downtown. The earliest documented burial is Capt. Edward Hutchinson, who died in 1675 after an ambush during King Philip's War. About 650 burials are recorded, and most headstones are dark gray slate carved with winged death's heads, cherubs, and later willow-and-urn designs. Roughly 60 marble markers, six obelisks, and four granite-faced earth tombs add to the range of styles. Epitaphs record family ties, accidents, and attitudes toward death. The cemetery also holds the graves of early ministers and 40 Revolutionary War and five Civil War veterans. It was listed for its link to the town's early history and for its representation of New England funerary design from the 17th to the 20th century, with a period of significance of 1675 to 1954. The site may also hold archaeological evidence of unmarked graves.","period_of_significance":"1675-1954","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"No longer an active cemetery with little public use; generally well maintained, though some gravestones have been lost, and marble stones are toppled, broken or eroded.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:05.259227-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/7960/63796091/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/04001114.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001114/3822586bf5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001114/3822586bf5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MarlboroughMA_SpringHillCemetery.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User: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:MarlboroughMA_SpringHillCemetery.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796091","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Hill_Cemetery_(Marlborough,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7580574"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/spring-hill-cemetery-04001114/"}