{"nrhp_refnum":"05000166","name":"Green Hill Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Church and Cornell Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Amsterdam","county":"Montgomery County","state":"NY","lat":42.936651756500055,"lon":-74.18362580390047,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-03-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Landscape Architecture","Art"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Green Hill Cemetery is a private, roughly 41-acre rural cemetery on a hilltop near the center of Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York. It was laid out in 1857 and opened for burials in 1858.","why_significant":"The cemetery is significant as a highly intact example of Picturesque rural cemetery design, laid out by surveyor/engineer Burton A. Thomas. Its winding drives, plantings, monuments and funerary art reflect Amsterdam's growth from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Its sections and family plots also mirror the city's social and economic structure.","narrative":"Green Hill Cemetery occupies about 41 acres on a flat hilltop above the Mohawk River in Amsterdam, New York. A cemetery association formed in 1857 and engaged surveyor and engineer Burton A. Thomas to lay out the grounds in the rural cemetery tradition. The cemetery was dedicated in September 1858. Carriage drives and footpaths follow the natural contours, and mature oaks and ornamental plantings create a park-like setting with views of the valley. About 14,860 burials range from mill workers and domestic servants to leading business figures. Notable features include the Church Street entrance gate, a 120-step stone pedestrian path, a stone receiving vault, circular Civil War veterans' plot, a Spanish American War section, and the Classical mausoleum of carpet manufacturer Stephen Sanford. The grounds hold varied funerary art in limestone, sandstone, marble, granite and bronze. The cemetery was listed for its landscape design and its reflection of Amsterdam's social history, and it remains in use today.","period_of_significance":"1857-1954","architect_builder":"Burton A. Thomas (surveyor)","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Continues in use as the city's principal non-denominational cemetery; some elements are overgrown and neglected, and vandalism has damaged some monuments. The original Church Street gate is no longer used.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.389591-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/05000166.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319017","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Hill_Cemetery_(Amsterdam,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14706300"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/montgomery-county/green-hill-cemetery-05000166/"}