{"nrhp_refnum":"96000862","name":"African-American Cemetery, The","other_names":["\"Colored Cemetery\""],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Co. Rt. 416, approximately .5 mi. S of jct. with NY 84","address_restricted":false,"city":"Montgomery","county":"Orange County","state":"NY","lat":41.50459247100008,"lon":-74.25429949699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-08-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Social History","Exploration/Settlement","Black"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 0.46-acre inactive burial ground, also called the \"Colored Cemetery,\" on the west side of County Route 416 in Montgomery, Orange County, New York. It was used from about 1750 to about 1900 and holds 171 known fieldstone markers.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the largest known African-American burial ground in the town of Montgomery and among the earliest and largest identified in Orange County. It is a rare surviving burying ground for the area's Black population, including enslaved and free people. It is likely to yield information about African-American life ways and funerary customs in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.","narrative":"Set beside County Route 416 in Montgomery, New York, this small half-acre burial ground, also known as the \"Colored Cemetery,\" holds 171 known grave markers, nearly all of them upright, unfinished fieldstones. Two carry inscriptions, one dated 1756. Researchers estimate at least 86 burials. The graves lie on a low knoll and along the old roadbed, next to a swamp. The land was part of the early German settlement begun by Johannes Miller in 1727, and the cemetery may have begun as a burying place for enslaved people held by settlers, later serving free Black residents. Burials are thought to have continued until about 1900. An 1867 deed set aside the plot as one used by the Colored people as a cemetery, though later land transfers overlooked it. The site fell into neglect before the town acquired it in 1996. It is valued as the largest known African-American burial ground in the town and as a source of information on burial customs.","period_of_significance":"ca.1750 - ca. 1900","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","D"],"status_note":"Inactive cemetery, undisturbed and intact. The town of Montgomery acquired it in 1996, cleared undergrowth, and added a rail fence, memorial tablet and historic marker.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.83922-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/96000862.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000862/2772d7bf9a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000862/2772d7bf9a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Original uploader was Daniel Case at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colored_Cemetery_(Montgomery,_New_York).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Original uploader was Daniel Case at en.wikipedia</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:Colored_Cemetery_(Montgomery,_New_York).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320566","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Cemetery_(Montgomery,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4689616"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/orange-county/african-american-cemetery-the-96000862/"}