Main Street Cemetery
Main Street Cemetery is located in Massachusetts
Main Street Cemetery
Main Street Cemetery is located in the United States
Main Street Cemetery
LocationDalton, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°28′27″N 73°10′31″W / 42.47417°N 73.17528°W / 42.47417; -73.17528
Area10.2 acres (4.1 ha)
Built1781 (1781)
ArchitectBatterson, J.G.; et al.
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No.00000502 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 18, 2000

The Main Street Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Main Street in Dalton, Massachusetts. Although the cemetery dates to 1781, much of it was laid out in the 19th century, during the rural cemetery movement. Its most prominent burials are those of the Crane family, whose papermaking business, Crane and Company, has dominated Dalton since the 1820s.[2] The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.[1]

Description and history

The Main Street Cemetery is located on the western fringe of Dalton's developed downtown area, near its town line with Pittsfield. It is bounded on the south by Main Street, the west by Park Avenue, the north by properties fronting on John Street, and the east by properties fronting on Willis Street and Flansburg Avenue. It is roughly rectangular, and about 10 acres (4.0 ha) in size. Its most visible element is a long concrete wall, built in 1911, that separates it from Main Street. The cemetery grounds consist of meandering gravel paths, dotted with mature trees and other plantings. The cemetery has more than 850 burials, and remains in active use.[2]

The oldest portion of the cemetery appears to be its northeastern section, which is where the town's first meeting house was located. The cemetery's oldest dated burials are from 1788, not long after the town's incorporation (1784). The two largest plots in the cemetery are those of the Crane and Weston families, both of which have been historically important to the town's papermaking business. The cemetery chapel, built in 1907, is a prominent local example of Gothic Revival architecture, designed by the Pittsfield firm of Harding & Seaver.[2]

Notable interments

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Main Street Cemetery". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2013-12-02.

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