{"nrhp_refnum":"04001115","name":"Rocklawn Cemetery","other_names":["Chipman Cemetery"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Stevens St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marlborough","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.353148267500046,"lon":-71.54036506669195,"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":"Rocklawn Cemetery, also called Chipman Cemetery, is a five-acre municipal burial ground on Stevens Street in Marlborough, Massachusetts. It began with the Chipman section in 1813, and the northern Rocklawn section was laid out from the 1860s.","why_significant":"The cemetery is significant locally under Criterion A for its association with Marlborough's 19th century history. It was the town's fifth burial ground and holds the graves of about 1,000 residents, including Civil War and later war veterans. Under Criterion C it is a well-preserved small example of the rural cemetery style, with defined family lots, varied monuments and a Gothic brick receiving tomb.","narrative":"Rocklawn Cemetery is a five-acre municipal burial ground on Stevens Street in Marlborough, Massachusetts, made up of two joined sections. The older Chipman section dates from 1813 and has family lots set in a neat grid on a hillside. The newer Rocklawn section, laid out from the 1860s, sits on the hilltop with curving roads and a more open feel. About 1,000 burials are recorded in roughly 280 family lots, marked by marble and granite monuments in classical and Gothic styles. A small brick receiving tomb with a slate roof stands between the sections. The cemetery was listed for two reasons. It was the fifth burial ground in Marlborough and holds many of the town's notable residents, along with 65 Civil War veterans. It also preserves the layout, plantings, topography and monuments of the 19th century rural cemetery movement. Its period of significance runs from the first reported burial in 1813 to 1954.","period_of_significance":"1813-1954","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Generally well maintained, though some gravestones have been lost, toppled or eroded. Burials continue in existing lots, but it is not generally considered an active cemetery. The receiving tomb is no longer actively used.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.566522-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/7960/63796077/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/04001115.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001115/f2ebb2ac47-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001115/f2ebb2ac47-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rocklawn_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:Rocklawn_Cemetery.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796077","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocklawn_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7355471"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/rocklawn-cemetery-04001115/"}