{"nrhp_refnum":"05001373","name":"Hillside Cemetery","other_names":["North Burying Ground"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Depot, Nutting Rds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Westford","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.607529974000045,"lon":-71.44469852199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-12-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Hillside Cemetery, originally the North Burying Ground, is a one-acre town burial ground at the northwest corner of Nutting and Depot Roads in Westford, Massachusetts, acquired by the town by 1753 from local farmers.","why_significant":"The cemetery is significant under Criterion A for its link to community events such as epidemics and Revolutionary military service. It is significant under Criterion C as a Colonial Period burial ground with gravestone carving typical of its era. It kept its simple, unimproved landscape while other town cemeteries adopted picturesque designs.","narrative":"Hillside Cemetery, first called the North Burying Ground, is a one-acre burial ground at the corner of Nutting and Depot Roads in Westford, Massachusetts. The town acquired the land from local farmers by 1753, and it remains in use. About 300 burials are visible, marked mostly by slate, with later granite, marble and a few zinc markers. Early stones carry winged death's heads, while later ones show urn and willow designs and Victorian symbols. Densely grouped 18th-century slate markers stand near the southeast corner. Unlike Fairview Cemetery, which adopted curving avenues and ornate gates, this ground received only a new name and a single path along the north edge, so it kept a plain, Colonial character. It was listed for its ties to community events such as epidemics and Revolutionary service, and for its representative gravestone carving. Lowell carvers Andrews & Wheeler and D. Nichols signed some markers.","period_of_significance":"1753-1955","architect_builder":"Andrews & Wheeler (carvers); D. Nichols","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Remains in use as a cemetery; the most recent burial noted occurred in 2001.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:05.040471-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/1/7961/63796101/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/05001373.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05001373/cf4d2d95d5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05001373/cf4d2d95d5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WestfordMA_HillsideCemetery.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:WestfordMA_HillsideCemetery.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796101","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillside_Cemetery_(Westford,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16892303"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/hillside-cemetery-05001373/"}