The Pine Grove Cemetery, also known as the First Meetinghouse Burying Ground, is an historic
cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
on Tremaine and Main Streets in
Leominster, Massachusetts
Leominster ( ) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 43,782 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Leominster i ...
. Established in 1742, it is the city's oldest cemetery, and the principal surviving element of the town's early settlement. It was originally located adjacent to the community's first meeting house, built in 1741 and dismantled in 1774. The cemetery, closed to burials since 1937, was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on March 12, 2008.
Description and history
Leominster was settled in the early 18th century as part of
Lancaster, and was separately incorporated in 1740. Its first
colonial meeting house
A colonial meeting house was a meeting house used by communities in colonial New England. Built using tax money, the colonial meeting house was the focal point of the community where the town's residents could discuss local issues, conduct rel ...
was built in 1741, and the cemetery was laid out the following year. The meeting house was torn down in 1774, after a new one was built near the modern city center. The cemetery was enlarged in 1776, and again in the 1820s to reach its present size of . It was the city's only cemetery until 1840, when Evergreen Cemetery was opened to its northeast. It is the resting place for most of Leominster's early settlers, and for many of its 18th and 19th century political and business leaders.
The cemetery is located about northeast of downtown Leominster, east of Main Street and south of Tremaine Street. It is roughly rectangular in shape, and is generally level, with a steep rise only near its northern entrance. There are entrances (none accessible to public vehicles) on the north, south, and west sides. The western (Main Street) entrance is for pedestrians only, while the other two have normally locked wrought iron gates. Vehicular circulation is by two grassy (formerly cobbled) roads that run roughly north-south, one of them connecting the north and south gates. Burials in the cemetery, in addition to early settlers and business leaders, include a number of
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
veterans.
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See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Cemeteries in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Worcester County, Massachusetts