{"nrhp_refnum":"80004475","name":"New York Marble Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Between East 2nd and 3rd Sts.,2nd Ave. and Bowery","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.73467039600007,"lon":-73.99106794299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-09-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A half-acre non-sectarian burial ground with 156 underground marble vaults, located in the interior of the block between East 2nd and 3rd Streets, Second Avenue and the Bowery, in Manhattan. Established in 1830-1832 and entered through an alley from Second Avenue.","why_significant":"It was Manhattan's first non-sectarian burial ground open to the public and was used by some of New York's oldest families. It is also notable because it keeps its original, unusual design of underground vaults marked only by wall tablets. It is one of two cemeteries in Manhattan still unchanged in size and shape.","narrative":"Hidden inside a Lower East Side block between East 2nd and 3rd Streets, Second Avenue and the Bowery, this half-acre cemetery cannot be seen from the street. Entry is through an iron-gated alley between Nos. 41 and 43 Second Avenue. There are no monuments or tombstones: all 156 burial vaults, built of Tuckahoe marble, lie underground beneath a lawn, and marble tablets set in the north and south walls record vault numbers and original owners. The cemetery followed an 1830 city ordinance banning burials below Canal Street. Three businessmen, Perkins Nichols, Anthony Dey and George W. Strong, bought land from Henry Eckford, built the vaults and sold them to leading families; the corporation was chartered in 1831. Buyers and later burials include Valentine Mott, the Scribners, Peter Lorillard II, Aaron Clark and James Talmadge. It was Manhattan's first non-sectarian public burial ground and is one of two Manhattan cemeteries still unchanged in size and shape. The grounds are fairly well kept, though the surrounding wall is crumbling in places.","period_of_significance":"1830-1832","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Grounds and plantings are fairly well kept, but the surrounding wall has deteriorated, with the western part of the north wall crumbling; the tombs remain undisturbed. Form lists condition as deteriorated and unaltered, status occupied, use cemetery.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.330499-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80004475.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004475/0c3c863c82-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004475/0c3c863c82-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Beyond My Ken","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NY_Marble_Cemetery_entrance.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Beyond My Ken</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:NY_Marble_Cemetery_entrance.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319770","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Marble_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2879976"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/new-york-marble-cemetery-80004475/"}