{"nrhp_refnum":"14000364","name":"Pine Grove Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"145 Boston St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lynn","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.47529400000005,"lon":-70.96103683949025,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2014-06-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art","Landscape Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Pine Grove Cemetery is a three-acre burying ground at Tremaine Street and Main Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts, established in 1742 beside the town's first meetinghouse.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as the oldest remaining link to Leominster's early history, with gravestones from the 18th and 19th centuries, stone walls, tombs and mature trees that evolved over about 260 years. It is listed under Criteria A and C and Criteria Consideration D (cemetery) at the local level. Notable burials include early settler Gershom Houghton, comb-making and plastics industry pioneers, and Deacon David Wilder.","narrative":"Pine Grove Cemetery is a three-acre burying ground in Leominster, Massachusetts, laid out in 1742 next to the town's first meetinghouse. It grew through two expansions and now holds roughly 800 gravestones, mostly 18th and 19th century slate and marble, along with four granite tombs built into a fieldstone wall, wrought-iron gates, eleven demarcated family plots and about 130 mature trees. The oldest stones cluster in the northeast corner and show Colonial-era layout, while later sections reflect 19th century garden-cemetery planting. Burials ended in 1937, and Works Progress Administration crews rebuilt the walls and mapped the grounds in the 1930s. The cemetery was listed because it is the oldest surviving link to Leominster's early history and because it embodies changing burial design over time. Buried here are first settler Gershom Houghton, comb-making pioneers tied to the city's plastics heritage, and Deacon David Wilder, a state legislator and local historian.","period_of_significance":"1742-1958","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed to burials in 1937; limited municipal funds for upkeep, but the cemetery retains a high degree of historical integrity. Gates are padlocked or blocked to public vehicle access.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:10:51.78457-05","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/14000364/af90134888-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/14000364/af90134888-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LynnMA_PineGroveCemetery_Chapel.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LynnMA_PineGroveCemetery_Chapel.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_(Lynn,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7195166"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/pine-grove-cemetery-14000364/"}