{"nrhp_refnum":"84002766","name":"Old Burying Ground","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Pleasant and William Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stoneham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.481462570000076,"lon":-71.09623256599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A town-owned colonial burying ground of about one acre at Pleasant and William Streets in Stoneham, Massachusetts, in use from 1728 to about 1850. The land was purchased in 1726.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the only surviving part of Stoneham's original town center, which also had a church and school. It holds the graves of most of the town's early settlers. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship.","narrative":"Stoneham's Old Burying Ground is a town-owned cemetery of about one acre at Pleasant and William Streets. The land was bought from John Hay in July 1726, and burials ran from 1728 until around 1850. Roughly 150 stones remain, mostly slate or marble, with arched or rectangular tops. Carved motifs follow popular 18th and early 19th century patterns, including winged death's heads, cherubs, urns and willows. Several crypts are set into the granite retaining wall around the grounds, which are flat and shaded by mature deciduous trees. The cemetery was listed because it is the only surviving piece of Stoneham's original town center, which once included a church and school. It holds the graves of most of the town's early settlers and keeps its original location, setting, design, materials and workmanship. Condition is fair to poor: weathering has damaged many slate stones, and about a quarter lean or have fallen.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Condition fair to poor; slate stones are weathered and some badly deteriorated. About a quarter of the roughly 150 stones are leaning or fallen, though most inscriptions are fairly legible.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.417774-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/9/7923/63792309/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002766.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002766/e350dd2b53-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002766/e350dd2b53-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Burying_Ground,_Stoneham_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Burying_Ground,_Stoneham_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792309","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Burying_Ground_(Stoneham,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083567"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/old-burying-ground-84002766/"}