{"nrhp_refnum":"07000054","name":"Pocomoke Farm","other_names":["Makemie Monument Park","Vdhr #001-0112","44ac0557"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"7492 Monument Rd., VA 699","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sanford","county":"Accomack County","state":"VA","lat":37.932600335000075,"lon":-75.63518439399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-02-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Pocomoke Farm, now Makemie Monument Park, is a roughly five-acre private site near Sanford (Saxis area) in Accomack County, Virginia. It was the 17th-century plantation and home site of Rev. Francis Makemie and holds a family cemetery, buried colonial foundations and a 1908 commemorative monument.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the site is nationally significant as the home and burial place of Francis Makemie, a founder of American Presbyterianism who organized the first inter-colonial presbytery in 1706 and was acquitted in a religious-freedom trial. It is also tied to the large 1908 dedication ceremony. Archaeological testing found colonial brick structures and pits, suggesting strong potential for further information on the Eastern Shore in the late 1600s and early 1700s.","narrative":"Pocomoke Farm, also called Makemie Monument Park, is a five-acre parcel of lawn, trees and marsh beside Holden's Creek in Accomack County, Virginia. A bronze statue of Francis Makemie stands on a granite base at its center, and a brick memorial pyramid near the northwest corner commemorates the family graves. The land was assembled by William Anderson, who left it to his daughter Naomi and her husband Makemie in 1698. Makemie, an early ordained Presbyterian minister, organized the first inter-colonial presbytery in Philadelphia in 1706 and was tried and acquitted in New York after preaching without the governor's approval. He died in 1708 and was buried here. In 1908 more than 2,500 people attended the park's dedication. Archaeological testing in 2002 and 2003 uncovered three colonial brick structures, a trash-filled pit and a shell feature, indicating that much of the plantation survives beneath the grass.","period_of_significance":"Circa 1681-1708; 1908","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","B","D"],"status_note":"Maintained as a memorial park with a statue, memorial pyramid, benches, fencing and a parking and picnic area; archaeological remains lie below ground.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.53669-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/35/6792/41679235/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/07000054.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000054/a977e04cab-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000054/a977e04cab-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_Makemie.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_Makemie.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679235","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocomoke_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16898631"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/accomack-county/pocomoke-farm-07000054/"}