{"nrhp_refnum":"08000168","name":"Pine Grove Cemetery","other_names":["First Meetinghouse Burying Ground"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Tremaine & Main Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Leominster","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.53144927750006,"lon":-71.7550213384242,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-03-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Pine Grove Cemetery is a three-acre burying ground on Tremaine Street and Main Street in Leominster, Massachusetts, established in 1742 beside the town's first meetinghouse. It holds about 800 gravestones, stone walls, iron gates and four granite tombs.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the oldest remaining link to Leominster's early history, with gravestones, walls and a circulation system largely intact from the 18th and 19th centuries. It qualifies under Criteria A and C as a cemetery that evolved from a Colonial burying yard into a 19th-century landscape. Notable burials include the town's first settler and pioneers of the local comb-making and early plastics industry.","narrative":"Pine Grove Cemetery occupies about three acres at Tremaine and Main Streets in Leominster, Massachusetts. Founded in 1742 as a burying yard at the east end of the town's first meetinghouse, it grew through two expansions to its present size. Roughly 800 gravestones remain, mostly 18th and 19th century slate and marble, along with four granite tombs built into the western wall, wrought-iron gates, family plots and about 130 mature trees. The oldest stones, including that of first settler Gershom Houghton, lie in the northeast corner and show Colonial layout, while later sections reflect 19th-century garden cemetery ideas. Burials declined after Evergreen Cemetery opened in 1840, and the ground closed in 1937. Works Progress Administration crews rebuilt the walls and reset stones in the 1930s. Comb-making pioneers and Deacon David Wilder are buried here. The cemetery was listed for its role in community development and social history, and for its landscape and artistic qualities.","period_of_significance":"1742-1958","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed to burials in 1937; the city has had little money for upkeep, though it retains a high degree of historical integrity. The northern and southern vehicle gates are not accessible to the public.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.282927-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/98/7974/63797498/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/08000168.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000168/e64a5d3664-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000168/e64a5d3664-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pine_Grove_Cemetery,_Leominster_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pine_Grove_Cemetery,_Leominster_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797498","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Grove_Cemetery_(Leominster,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7195163"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/pine-grove-cemetery-08000168/"}