{"nrhp_refnum":"100010567","name":"North Burial Ground (Additional Documentation)","other_names":["North Burial Field"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Old Union Turnpike","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lancaster","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.51377000000008,"lon":-71.66244899999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2024-07-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"North Burial Ground is a municipal cemetery on North Main Street in Fall River, Massachusetts, with markers dating from about 1800 to the present, an 1849 receiving tomb and a gatehouse from about 1890.","why_significant":"It is described as the oldest city-owned and public cemetery in Fall River and the main burial place for all citizens for many years. It holds the graves of prominent early citizens, including Revolutionary War figures and a founder of the city's first cotton mill. It also has notable 19th century funerary art and buildings, including a fieldstone gatehouse and an Egyptian Revival receiving tomb.","narrative":"North Burial Ground is a flat, rectangular cemetery on North Main Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. The city bought the land in 1825, though the earliest stones date to about 1800 and were probably moved from other sites. It is the city's oldest public cemetery and for many years served as the main burial place for residents. Those interred include Col. Joseph Durfee, who helped build Fall River's first cotton mill in 1811, and Revolutionary War figures Thomas Durfee and Robert Irving. After Oak Grove Cemetery opened in 1855, many remains were moved there, but burials here have continued to the present. The layout is simple, with plots in straight rows and markers of marble or granite. Two structures stand out: a fieldstone gatehouse of about 1890 with brownstone trim and Romanesque-style arches, and a severe Egyptian Revival receiving tomb dated 1849. A cast iron fence around the Hyland grave site is a rare example of fenced plots.","period_of_significance":"1810-Present","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Egyptian Revival (receiving tomb); Victorian Romantic with Richardsonian Romanesque motifs (fieldstone gatehouse)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Still in active use as a cemetery to the present day.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:10:51.717654-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/87/7897/63789787/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000695.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789787","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/north-burial-ground-additional-documentation-100010567/"}