BlockFrom the record
One of 686 National Register listings published here for Worcester County · listed in 2019 · category: Site · built in 1798.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article
Middle Cemetery
Built in 1798. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. 20 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1887.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 52 objectss, 2 structuress, 1 site as contributing to the listing.
- Address. Main St., Lancaster, 01523
- When was it listed? 2019-11-15
- Category. site
- Town. Lancaster town
- When was it built? 1798
- National Register reference number. 100004560 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
Then and now
1887 to 1997The ground this property stands on, surveyed 110 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Lancaster town. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.
History Op W0R0E3Ter County, Massachusetts
of war, generally proved faithful to the English, and their services as scouts were invaluable. Among these none deserves better to be honored in Lancaster story than James Wiser, alias Quanapaug or Quanapohit, whose courage and fidelity would have saved the town from the massacre of 1676, had not his timely warning been unwisely discredited by the apparently lethargic Governor and his slumberous Council.
The ground it stands on
29,485 wordsThe chapter on Lancaster Town in History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889 names Lancaster. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
At how early a date the pioneer pale-face first looked down from its southern barrier of hills upon Sholan's beautiful domain is not known. John Winthrop relates that the Watertown people began a settlement at Nashaway in 1643. Before that Thomas King had accepted the invitation of the sachem, and selected a location for a trading post on the sunny slope of George Hill, near the parting of two trails which led from the " wading-place" of Nashaway, westward to Wachusett, and southwesterly by Washacum to the land of the Quabaugs. King was a young man. of limited means, and had formed a partnership with Henry Symonds, a freeman, a capitalist, and an enterprising contractor, living near the head of what is now North Street, in Boston. By a little brook that came brawling down the divide over which the western trail ran, the trucking-house was built, probably in 1642, certainly before the summer of 1643. Symonds, the moneyed partner, died in September of 1643, and King survived him little more than a year. In the inventory of King's property there is no hint of any estate at Lancaster. This is confirmation of the statement made by Rev. Timothy Harrington in 1753 - doubtless recording a tradition - that a company bought such proprietary rights at Nashaway as King had obtained by his bargain with Sholan. No deed of a sale is foun<l, but the price of the grant, as agreed upon with the Indians, was twelve pounds. The territory acquired was nominally ten miles long from south to north, by eight miles wide. It included a few families of Indians, dwelling about the rivers and ponds, though these, perhaps, joined the Washacum village, when, in 1663 and 1669, the warriors of the tribe were decimated in contest with the bloodthirsty Mohawks. A provision in Sholan's deed, however, restricted the purchasers and their successors from "molesting the Indians in their hunting, fishing, or usual planting places." Joint occupancy was the evident intent of the conveyance. *
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
Branch. Prescott, who had chosen his first home-lot in the eastern range, covering the site of the present Lancaster House, sold it to Ralph Houghton and made his home at the trucking-house. Philip Knight, of Charlestown, built a house on the lot which he bought of Steven Day, adjoining Prescott's on the north, and upon the next two lots were John and Solomon Johnson, of Sudbury, a roadway separating their dwellings. Upon the south corner of Solomon Johnson's lot now stands the George Hill Schoolhouse. Thomas Sav/yer, a blacksmith of Rowley, married Mary, the daughter of Prescott, in 1647 or 1648, and set up a home near his father-in-law, in a range of lots parallel to and south of those above named. Mrs. Sally Case's residence is nearly upon the site of the Sawyer house. These were probably the first five dwellings south of the North River. William Kerley perhaps moved upon his house-lot in the upper range not much later, and Daniel Hudson, a brickmaker from Watertown, occupied John Moore's lot certainly as early as the spring of 1651.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Lancaster Town - 29,485 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Fires near this property
111 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 111 fires within 5 miles of Middle Cemetery between 2002 and 2020, burning about 2,732 acres in total. None started naturally. 5 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 52 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 16 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2015 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 5 September 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 18 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 18 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 14 August 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | DEVENS |
| 10 August 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 1 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 1 August 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Specimens collected near this property
12 of 1,931 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,931 specimens collected within 10 miles of Middle Cemetery between 1859 and 1974: 1,130 Animalia, 516 Plantae, 273 Fungi, 6 Unrecorded, 5 Chromista, 1 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. C. Gibson, A. Ferrett, A. G. Chandler and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.
| Image | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Chrysosplenium americanum Schwein. ex Hook. | 1899 | E. F. Williams | |
 | Condylura cristata cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) | 1859 | E S Wheeler | BERLIN |
 | Dryobates pubescens medianus (Swainson, 1832) | 1861 | not recorded | Bolton |
| Clemmys insculpta Fitzinger, 1835 | 1864 | Agassiz | ||
 | Bromus sterilis L. | 1879 | C. E. Faxon | |
 | Merulius lacrymans (Wulfen) Schumach. | 1879 | Howes, A. | Massachusetts |
 | Icterus galbula (Linnaeus, 1758) | 1881 | G. L. Brigham | Bolton |
| Nitella megacarpa (T.F.A.) R.D.W. | 1881 | T. F. Allen | Nashua River | |
| Arthuriomyces peckianus (Howe) Cummins & Y.Hirats. | 1892 | W. B. Hosmer | ||
 | Castilleja coccinea (L.) Spreng. | 1892 | E. C. Smith | Marboro. |
| Tyrannus tyrannus (Linnaeus, 1758) | 1892 | G.L. Brigham | Bolton | |
| Seiurus aurocapilla aurocapilla (Linnaeus, 1766) | 1894 | Collector(s): James Lee Peters | Harvard |
All 1,931 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this property
10 of 11 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Middle Cemetery: 7 past producers, 3 producers, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Zinc. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Prospect | Iron, Zinc | Prospect | ||
| Bates Sand and Gravel Co. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Berlin Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Bolton Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Kanis Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Lancaster Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Landfill Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Landfill Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Spratts Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Sterling Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this property
8 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lancaster, the town this property stands in, in 8 storm reports between 2005 and 2026: 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lancaster | $25,000 | Trees and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds throughout town. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | South Lancaster | $10,000 | In Lancaster, a tree was down on a house near Crescent St. |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lancaster | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | South Lancaster | $4,000 | In Lancaster, a tree was down on a house on Charlotte Street. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lancaster | $1,000 | At 110 PM EST, a large tree was down blocking Bolton Station Road. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lancaster | $800 | In Lancaster, a tree and wires were down on Neck Road. |
| July 2010 | Funnel Cloud | Lancaster | - | Several spotters reported a funnel cloud near Lancaster. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Lancaster | - | no account filed |
Newspapers printed here
1 paper1 paper published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.
| Newspaper | Published |
|---|---|
| Lancaster Gazette | 1828 to 1830 |
Maps showing this location
20 surveysUnited States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
- 1887 USGS Marlboro quadrangle1:62500
- 1889 USGS Marlboro quadrangle1:62500
- 1896 USGS Marlboro quadrangle1:62500
- 1898 USGS Marlboro quadrangle1:62500 - 8 printings
- 1908 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000 - 3 printings
- 1943 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:31680 - 3 printings
- 1943 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:31680 - 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000 - 6 printings
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:25000
- 1965 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:24000
- 1975 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:25000
- 1985 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000
- 1988 USGS Hudson quadrangle1:25000 - 2 printings
- 1989 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings
- 1997 USGS Hudson quadrangle1:25000
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Nathaniel Thayer Estate | 0.1 miles | 1976 |
 | Old Settlers' Burying Ground | 0.1 miles | 2019 |
 | Atherton Bridge | 0.3 miles | 1979 |
 | First Church of Christ, Lancaster | 0.5 miles | 1970 |
 | Founder's Hall | 0.6 miles | 1980 |
 | Center Village District | 0.6 miles | 1977 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100004560 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Worcester County | All 686 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.