FORM E BURIAL GROUND Assessor s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Photograph Town Northborough Shrewsbury Place (neighborhood or village) Address or Location between 360 and 380 Brigham Street Insert here or on a Continuation Sheet a digital photograph (either color or black and white). A paper photographic print (3½x5¼" or 4x6" must also be attached to the form in this space or to a Continuation Sheet. Prints, from a photo-quality inkjet printer, must use brand name paper and inks approved by MHC. Attached photographs should be clearly identified with town name and property address. See MHC's Guidelines for Inventory Form Photographs. Name Brigham Street Burial Ground Ownership X Public Private Approximate Number of Stones approx. 8 Earliest Death Date Unknown Latest Death Date Unknown Landscape Architect Unknown Condition Fair Topographic or Assessor's Map Acreage 3.29 acres Setting A residential neighborhood just east of South Street. Recorded by: Pauline Chase-Harrell Organization: Boston Affiliates, Inc Date (month / year) October 2007 Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
BURIAL GROUND FORM VISUAL/DESIGN ASSESSMENT see continuation sheet Describe landscape features, gravestone materials, designs, motifs, and symbols that are either common or unusual. Note any known carvers. The Brigham Street Burial Ground is situated between 360 and 380 Brigham Street, just east of South Street. A plaque, mounted on a rock, says First burying place in Northborough. This piece of land was set apart for a burying place by the proprietors of Marlborough, Mass. in the year 1727-8. Erected in 1945. The burial ground is not well defined. It primarily consists of a large space with little to no brush with a significant number of trees, arranged in avenues. There are only a few headstones which still remain, most of which are damaged. Behind the surviving headstone are piles of rocks over the graves, which are still visible. Many of the graves that are not marked with headstones are slightly elevated with rocks above, which were presumably mounded at one point but have since sunk into the ground. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE see continuation sheet Explain religious affiliations, major period of use, and evaluate historical association of this burial ground with the community. The Brigham Street Burial Ground was the first burial ground in Northborough, and has long been considered as an antiquity in the town. Settlement in the area, slowed during King Philip s War, increased after 1713 and the end of attacks connected with Queen Anne s War. A piece of land was set apart for a burying ground by the proprietors of Marlborough sometime between 1727 and 1729, before precinct status was achieved in 1744. When disagreements over location of the meetinghouse were resolved in 1746, another burying ground was set-aside near the meetinghouse, which apparently superceded the older one as the primary town burial place. As early as the 1840s, selectmen appointed a committee to look into the derelict state of the Old Burying Ground. Efforts were made in the 1850s to restore it to a state that showed respect for those buried there, but the Rev. Josiah Kent complained in 1921 that it was again in a deplorable state. In the 1940s, Alice Kimball, president of the Northborough Historical Society for eleven years, enlisted the help of the town to clear the three-acre lot. Voters authorized $300 to clean up the burial ground, under the supervision of the Northborough Historical Society. It was at this time that the plaque was erected and the burial ground has been maintained since. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES see continuation sheet Ellis, Robert P. Alice Kimball s Northboro, The Record: Northborough MA, November 2006 Hopkins, G. M., Map of the Town of Northboro, Worcester County, Mass, 1855. Kent, Josiah Coleman. Northborough History. Newton, Mass.: Garden City Press, 1921. Map Plate 5, Part of the Town of Northborough, Part of the Town of Shrewsbury, 1898. Massachusetts Historical Commission. Reconnaissance Survey Report: Northborough, 1983. Mulligan, William H., Jr. Northborough During the American Revolution. Northborough: Northborough American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1975. Valentine, Gill, Map of Northborough, Worcester County, Mass, 1830. Worcester County Atlas, page 68: Northborough; page 70, Northboro Centre, 1870. _X_ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET NORTHBOROUGH between 360-380 Brigham Street MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 PHOTOGRAPHS Continuation sheet 1
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET NORTHBOROUGH between 360-380 Brigham Street MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 PHOTOGRAPHS Continuation sheet 2
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET NORTHBOROUGH between 360-380 Brigham Street MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 PHOTOGRAPHS Continuation sheet 3
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Community Property Address MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING NORTHBOROUGH BRIGHAM STREET BURIAL GROUND 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Area(s) Form No. National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form Check all that apply: Individually eligible Eligible only in a historic district Contributing to a potential historic district Potential historic district Criteria: A B C D Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G Statement of Significance by Pauline Chase-Harrell The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here. The Brigham Street Burial Ground possesses integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association and appears to meet Criterion A for listing on the National Register at the local level, individually. Under Criterion A, the Brigham Street Burial Ground has a strong association with Northborough s early history. The Brigham Street Burial Ground was the first burial ground in Northborough, and has long been considered as an antiquity in the town. Settlement in the area, slowed during King Philip s War, increased after 1713 and the end of attacks connected with Queen Anne s War. A piece of land was set apart for a burying ground by the proprietors of Marlborough sometime between 1727 and 1729, before precinct status was achieved in 1744. When disagreements over location of the meetinghouse were resolved in1746, another burying ground was ser aside near the meetinghouse, which apparently superceded the older one as the primary town burial place. As early as the 1840s, selectmen appointed a committee to look into the derelict state of the Old Burying Ground. Efforts were made in the 1 850s to restore it to a state that showed respect for those buried there, but the Rev. Josiah Kent complained in 1921 that it was again in a deplorable state. Continuation sheet 1