{"nrhp_refnum":"80002689","name":"First Shearith Israel Graveyard","other_names":["Chatham Square Cemetery"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"55-57 St. James Pl.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.71284359300006,"lon":-73.99838229899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Military","Education","Politics/Government","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small burial ground of about one-tenth of an acre at 55-57 St. James Place (formerly New Bowery), near Chatham Square in Manhattan, used by Congregation Shearith Israel from 1682. Its earliest tombstone is dated 1683.","why_significant":"The graveyard is the surviving remnant of the second oldest burial ground in New York City with an unbroken tradition, and some authorities consider it the oldest on Manhattan. For about a century and a half it served as the burial place, for most of that time the only one, of New York's Jewish community. It preserves a continuous record of that community's members, including merchants, patriots, craftsmen and religious leaders.","narrative":"Tucked half a block from Chatham Square in Manhattan, this small trapezoid of ground of barely a tenth of an acre is the remnant of a Jewish burial ground first purchased in 1682 by Congregation Shearith Israel. About seventy legible tombstones mark 107 identifiable graves, the earliest dated 1683 and the latest 1825. Most stones are flat slabs in the Sephardic custom, with inscriptions in Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese and later English. The cemetery once ran far to the north and south, but landslides on its hillside, street extensions and the 1855 condemnation for the New Bowery steadily reduced it, and many graves were moved to the 21st Street cemetery. Heavy stone walls now hold back the earth, and a small park donated to the city improves its setting. It is considered the second oldest burial ground in the city with continuous use, and perhaps the oldest. It records the history of New York's early Jewish community, which won civil liberties step by step.","period_of_significance":"1682 - 1831","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Still an occupied private cemetery owned by the congregation; about 70 legible tombstones mark 107 identifiable graves, and the form rates its condition as good and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.27616-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002689.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002689/c76eca889a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002689/c76eca889a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"User:Dmadeo","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First-Shearith-Israel-Graveyard.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Dmadeo</a>, <a href=\"http://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:First-Shearith-Israel-Graveyard.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319501","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Shearith_Israel_Graveyard","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453797"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/first-shearith-israel-graveyard-80002689/"}