Mechanic Street Cemetery
Why it's listed
Mechanic Street Cemetery is a small graveyard of 3.98 acres in Westfield, Massachusetts, hidden behind the houses of a residential neighborhood and reached by a long grassy aisle from Mechanic Street. A burial ground here was mentioned in land divisions as early as 1677. About 1,127 headstones and footstones, representing 897 individuals, remain, dating from 1683 to 1934. Most are tablet markers, and many early plots still have their footstones. The stones show a progression of carving styles, from plain lettering to winged skulls, soul effigies and urn-and-willow designs. They were made by Connecticut Valley carvers working in local sandstone, later by Berkshire carvers in marble and by commercial New England cutters. Buried here are Reverend Edward Taylor, Westfield's first permanent minister, Revolutionary War General William Shepard, gunmaker Richard Falley Jr., and dozens of war veterans. Its layout in irregular rows, without formal landscaping, is typical of early New England burial grounds. An 1894 cast-iron gate marks the entrance.
Significance in brief: The cemetery holds a large, well-preserved collection of 17th- and 18th-century gravestones, including many intact footstones, that show the work of Connecticut Valley stonecutters and changing funerary motifs. It also contains the graves of notable early Westfield figures such as Reverend Edward Taylor, General William Shepard and Richard Falley Jr., and many Revolutionary and French and Indian War veterans.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 02000632, listed June 26, 2002. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Mechanic St., Westfield |
|---|---|
| County | Hampden County |
| Listed | June 26, 2002 |
| Reference number | 02000632 |
| Resource type | Site |
| Areas of significance | Social History, Art, Religion |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still a cemetery, surrounded by a chain-link fence installed against vandalism; the 1894 cast-iron gate provides the only access. |
| Acreage | 4 |
| Coordinates | 42.12295, -72.74433 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
Sites (archaeological sites, battlefields, landscapes) are often listed with a restricted address to protect them from looting or disturbance. Listing is honorary for private owners; federal undertakings on or near the site go through Section 106 review, and state laws may protect burials and artefacts regardless of listing.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 02000632.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6804471
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.