{"nrhp_refnum":"89001301","name":"Old Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Somerville Ave. and School St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerville","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.381586310000046,"lon":-71.10638680299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small burial ground on the south side of Somerville Avenue at School Street in Somerville, Massachusetts, established on donated farm land in 1804. It holds about 100 stones and covers less than one acre.","why_significant":"It is the only pre-20th century cemetery in Somerville and keeps its integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship and association with the town's 19th century development. It contains a Civil War monument erected in 1863, reported to be the earliest in the country, and ornate cast iron fencing that is one of few surviving examples of 19th century ironwork in the city.","narrative":"Old Cemetery is a small burial ground on Somerville Avenue at School Street in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was laid out in 1804 on farm land donated by Samuel Tufts and holds roughly 100 gravestones on less than an acre. It is the first and only burial ground in the city dating from before the 20th century. Its size is modest because many local families used the nearby Phipps Street-Charlestown Burying Yard, and many residents chose Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge after 1832. Most of the early 19th century stones carry some ornament but are not outstanding examples of the stone cutter's craft. Two features stand out: a Civil War monument erected in 1863, reported to be the earliest in the country, and an ornate cast iron fence that survives as one of the few examples of 19th century ironwork in the city. Somerville Avenue was once called Milk Row, and the Milk Row School stood beside the cemetery.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition described as fair/good; the cast iron fencing is described as well maintained.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.111393-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/7915/63791546/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001301.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001301/c3b127b257-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001301/c3b127b257-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Somerville_Cemetery.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</a>, <a href=\"https://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:Old_Somerville_Cemetery.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791546","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_Row_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083624"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/old-cemetery-89001301/"}