Washington Street Cemetery
Why it's listed
Washington Street Cemetery is a five-acre burial ground laid out in 1832 on what was then the southwestern edge of Geneva, New York, after the town's first burial ground on Pulteney Street filled up. About 2,200 burials dating from 1832 to around 1950 lie among terraces, mature trees and shrubs, with a straight unpaved road running from a cast-iron entrance arch of the late 1840s or early 1850s. The gravestones range from early lobed limestone slabs carved with willows and urns, through Victorian marble obelisks, to polished granite markers of the early twentieth century, and many family plots are enclosed by iron fences. The cemetery holds the graves of five Revolutionary War veterans, four War of 1812 veterans and 63 Civil War veterans, along with General Joseph Gardner Swift, the first graduate of West Point. It was listed for its funerary art and its restrained landscape design, which reflects cemetery planning before the Rural Cemetery Movement took hold.
Significance in brief: The cemetery is significant under criterion C as an intact, representative nineteenth-century urban burial ground in Ontario County. Its gravestones show changing funerary art and burial customs from 1832 to about 1950. Its terraced, restrained landscape reflects cemetery design of the second quarter of the nineteenth century. It also holds the graves of prominent locals and many 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 02000616, listed June 4, 2002. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Washington St., Geneva |
|---|---|
| County | Ontario County |
| Listed | June 4, 2002 |
| Reference number | 02000616 |
| Resource type | Site |
| Period of significance | 1832 - ca. 1950 |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Art, Landscape Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used as a cemetery; interments continued until about 1950, and it remains a place for strolling and genealogical research. It is owned by the City of Geneva. |
| Acreage | 5 |
| Coordinates | 42.86238, -76.99058 (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 02000616.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7972319
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.