{"nrhp_refnum":"06000400","name":"Indian Cemetery, Old","other_names":["Old Cemetery"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"50 Cottage St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"West Brookfield","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.238895454000044,"lon":-72.14542545816799,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-05-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-acre colonial burial ground on Cottage Street in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, above Wickaboag Pond. It was established by 1710 and is enclosed by a dry-laid fieldstone wall.","why_significant":"The cemetery is West Brookfield's second public burial ground and holds the graves of early families and of soldiers from the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars. It also contains work by many well-known New England gravestone carvers, and it has changed very little since the colonial period.","narrative":"Old Indian Cemetery occupies about one acre on a slope above Wickaboag Pond on Cottage Street in West Brookfield, Massachusetts. Enclosed by a 36-inch dry-laid fieldstone wall and shaded by tall pines, it holds roughly 186 gravestones of slate, sandstone, marble, schist and fieldstone. Burials began around 1710, and its name comes from the Haymakers Monument of 1912, which commemorates settlers killed in an Indian raid. Despite the name, no Native Americans are recorded as buried there. The graves include Col. Jedediah Foster, soldiers of the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, and members of early town families such as Adams, Foster, Gilbert and Wood. The cemetery was listed for its role in local history and for stones by carvers including John Buckland, Daniel Hastings, the Sikes brothers, William Young and the Soule family. Its layout and setting have changed little over nearly three centuries. The site also lies within a known ancient Native American settlement area.","period_of_significance":"1710-1956","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a cemetery. Markers are in relatively good condition, though some need conservation.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.962695-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/7975/63797500/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/06000400.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000400/df763e10f9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000400/df763e10f9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Kamundell","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WestBrookfieldMA_IndianCemetary.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Kamundell</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:WestBrookfieldMA_IndianCemetary.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797500","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Indian_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084266"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/indian-cemetery-old-06000400/"}