Millville Cemetery
Why it's listed
Millville Cemetery occupies 7.5 acres on a pronounced hill beside East Shelby Road, about half a mile south of the hamlet of Millville in western Orleans County, New York. The Millville Cemetery Association was incorporated in 1871 to expand an early burying ground into a rural cemetery. A receiving vault of local red Medina sandstone was built into the hillside in 1875, and a square frame chapel with a cruciform roof and gable dormers was added above it in 1894. Parrish Brothers won the building contract with a bid of $448.50. Graveled and grassed drives cross the terraced slopes, conifers provide ornamental planting, and an iron archway on brick piers marks the entrance. Monuments range from simple marble slabs to obelisks, urns and a rare hexagonal Gothic Revival obelisk in white marble. The cemetery is recognized as an intact vernacular example of the rural cemetery movement and a record of the community's prosperity and aspirations.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the cemetery is an intact, distinctive example of a vernacular rural cemetery in Orleans County. It shows the influence of the nineteenth-century rural cemetery movement through its use of a hill, shaped grades, ornamental plantings and a picturesque chapel. Its monuments also reflect the prosperity of late-nineteenth-century Millville.
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 07001126, listed October 31, 2007. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | E. Shelby Rd., Millville |
|---|---|
| County | Orleans County |
| Listed | October 31, 2007 |
| Reference number | 07001126 |
| Resource type | Site |
| Period of significance | ca. 1820-ca. 1955 |
| Architect / builder | Joseph Caldwell; Parrish Brothers |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Landscape Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still functioning as a cemetery, with the chapel/office building and the roads and monuments largely intact. |
| Acreage | 7.5 |
| Coordinates | 43.18992, -78.32405 (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 07001126.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6860121
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.