place

Mechanic Street Cemetery

1677 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay ColonyCemeteries established in the 17th centuryCemeteries in Hampden County, MassachusettsCemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in MassachusettsNational Register of Historic Places in Hampden County, Massachusetts
Westfield, Massachusetts
Mechanic Street Cemetery, Westfield MA
Mechanic Street Cemetery, Westfield MA

The Mechanic Street Cemetery is a historic early cemetery on Mechanic Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. The 4-acre (1.6 ha) cemetery is the city's oldest, with the oldest documented grave dating to 1683. It was used as a burying ground until the late 19th century, although its use began to decline in the middle of the century, with the advent of the popular rural cemetery movement, which was reflected in Westfield with the establishment of the new Pine Hill Cemetery in 1842. No burials were recorded in the 20th century. Although the cemetery has been subjected to some maintenance work, it continues to suffer the effects of vandalism and weather. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Mechanic Street Cemetery (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Mechanic Street Cemetery
Mechanic Street, Westfield

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Website External links Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Mechanic Street CemeteryContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 42.123055555556 ° E -72.744722222222 °
placeShow on map

Address

Mechanic Street Cemetery (Old Westfield Burying Ground)

Mechanic Street
01085 Westfield
Massachusetts, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Website
cityofwestfield.org

linkVisit website

linkWikiData (Q6804471)
linkOpenStreetMap (29908706)

Mechanic Street Cemetery, Westfield MA
Mechanic Street Cemetery, Westfield MA
Share experience

Nearby Places

Westfield Center Historic District
Westfield Center Historic District

The Westfield Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing 157 acres (64 ha) of the civic, commercial, and industrial heart of Westfield, Massachusetts. It represents a major expansion of the Westfield Center Commercial Historic District, which included only two blocks of buildings along Elm Street in downtown Westfield. The district includes buildings representing the city's growth in the 19th century as a center of the whip-making industry, and its early years as a center for statewide educational institutions, as well as its growth as a regional center of western Hampden County. The commercial district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008; the expansion and renaming of the district took place in 2013.Westfield was settled in the 17th century by English colonists, with its town center forming just west of the confluence of the Westfield and Little Rivers. It was mainly agricultural until the early 19th century, when whip making began as a cottage industry, and the Hampshire and Hampden Canal provided reliable means for moving goods. The town center shifted westward around this time, becoming centered between Park Square and the Westfield River on what is now called Elm Street. The town developed a diverse industrial whose largest component was the whip industry, prompting it to be called "Whip City". That industry would predominate until the advent of the automobile in the 20th century greatly reduced demand. In the late 19th century the city also became home to the state's second normal school, now Westfield State University.The city center is architecturally reflective of much of this history, although buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries predominate. Important industrial elements survive, in particular whip factories that include the Sanford Whip Factory, the Westfield Whip Manufacturing Company, the United States Whip Company Complex. The early functions of the normal school are recalled in part by the Westfield Municipal Building (formerly housing that school, and now city hall), and the State Normal Training School, an elementary school built as a training vehicle for teachers in training. Residential neighborhoods developed on either side of the commercial area, portions of which are included in the historic district.