{"nrhp_refnum":"12000206","name":"Old Churchyard Cemetery","other_names":["Jenks Road Cemetery, Stafford Hill Cemetery","Chs.803"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Adjacent to 918 Jenks Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cheshire","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.58294118300006,"lon":-73.12345747799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-04-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Exploration/Settlement","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small rural Baptist burying ground on the west slope of Stafford Hill, on Jenks Road in Cheshire, Massachusetts, with gravestones dating from 1785 to 1848 and a stone wall and iron gate added in 1913.","why_significant":"The cemetery is tied to New Providence, a settlement of Baptists from Rhode Island, and holds the graves of its early church founders, including pastor Elder Peter Werden. It is significant under Criterion A for Exploration and Settlement and Social History, and under Criterion C for the art of its gravestones. The 1913 rehabilitation by the Berkshire Baptist Association ends the period of significance.","narrative":"On the west slope of Stafford Hill in rural Cheshire, Massachusetts, a small walled burying ground holds the graves of the Baptist settlers of New Providence, who came from Rhode Island in the 1760s. Gravestones date from 1785 to 1848, and about 70 remain above ground, mostly white marble, with a few red sandstone and slate markers. Most are plain, though some carry willow-and-urn designs or classical details, and inscriptions record family ties, causes of death and religious sentiment. The grave of Elder Peter Werden, the first pastor, lies here. The site was neglected for years until 1913, when the Berkshire Baptist Association had stones reset, the ground graded and a stone wall with an iron gate built. The cemetery is listed for its link to the settlement of the area and the Baptist community, and for the artistry of its markers. An old church once stood beside it, and archaeological remains may survive.","period_of_significance":"1785-1913","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still a cemetery; about 70 headstones remain above ground, several broken or tipped, and many marble stones are badly weathered. Stones were reset and the site walled in 1913.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:10:51.60455-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/7943/63794346/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/12000206.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000206/ba547d0dec-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000206/ba547d0dec-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CheshireMA_OldChurchyardCemetery_3.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Magicpiano</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:CheshireMA_OldChurchyardCemetery_3.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794346","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Churchyard_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16896095"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/old-churchyard-cemetery-12000206/"}