{"nrhp_refnum":"87001922","name":"Quaker Meadows Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Off NC 126","address_restricted":false,"city":"Morganton","county":"Burke County","state":"NC","lat":35.75183624400006,"lon":-81.72140396299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-11-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic burial ground on a hill overlooking the Quaker Meadows valley, just northwest of downtown Morganton in Burke County, North Carolina, in use from 1767 to about 1879. It covers roughly 0.83 acres.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the earliest identified above-ground resource tied to white settlement in western North Carolina, and it holds the grave of pioneer settler Joseph McDowell. Its gravestones also show notable funerary art, unusually sophisticated for a frontier area. It qualifies under Criteria A and C, with a cemetery exception.","narrative":"Quaker Meadows Cemetery sits on a wooded hill overlooking the Quaker Meadows valley, next to the Morganton city limits. Burials began in 1767 with David McDowell, grandson of Joseph McDowell, the first permanent white settler in the area, and continued until about 1879. Around sixty graves are identified, most still marked by stones. The cemetery served prominent families tied to the McDowells, including the Tates, Erwins, Greenlees and Flemings, and holds the graves of Revolutionary War figures such as Charles and Joseph McDowell. It is described as the earliest identified above-ground resource of settlement in western North Carolina. The gravestones add to its importance, with winged death figures, weeping willows, closing curtains and severed blossoms, and craftsmanship finer than the remote frontier setting would suggest. The graves lie in three long rows with scattered clusters. A restoration in 1979-80 repaired the stones and added a brick and iron fence, walk and parking area, which lie outside the listed boundary.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1767-ca. 1879","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Funerary sculpture (gravestone art)","criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Restored in 1979-80, with stones repaired and reset in their original locations; condition listed as good and maintained by a nonprofit cemetery organization.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.690202-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/68/7173/47717368/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/87001922.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717368","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_Meadows_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18157075"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/burke-county/quaker-meadows-cemetery-87001922/"}