[MassHistPres] Historic "abandoned" burial grounds

[Mark Terra-Salomão]

Betty, I am by no means an expert on historical cemeteries and burial
grounds, and I'm not sure if this bears directly on your situation in
Westport, but perhaps some of the information below is useful:

Is the burial ground in question truly of unknown ownership, or is it on
abandoned private property, or abandoned public property? To me, the first
question would be to clarify who truly owns the land. Perhaps it is simple
enough to do deed research as a Historical Commission, or perhaps it would
be prudent to hire a professional archaeologist and historian through the
use of CPC/CPA funds to clarify the situation.

If the burial ground is publicly owned, I would imagine your Cemetery
Department has primary responsibility. Certainly, those of you on the
Historical Commission could work with them to protect and preserve the
burial ground. Perhaps your Conservation Commission and/or Veterans'
Services Department would be interested in working with you also, depending
on who is buried there.

If the burial ground is privately owned, your options are quite limited,
beyond contacting the property owner and asking for permission to protect
or preserve the site.

I would argue sometimes public advocacy groups by citizens can be more
effective than action by the Historical Commission, when property owners
perceive any requests from municipal entities as "overreach." For example,
here in Hudson, at 560 Main Street we have an unmarked, overgrown,
partially paved-over cemetery that was formerly part of the Marlborough and
then Hudson public poor farms, reverted to private property since 1942. In
1989 MHC archaeologists secured permission to survey the cemetery and
produced a report identifying at least two burials as Revolutionary War
veterans. For years we on the Hudson Historical Commission asked the owner
for permission to clean the site and install memorial markers without
success. At some point, the Sons of the American Revolution caught wind of
this impasse and offered to contact the property owner again. We did not
interfere with their outreach work, and a few years ago they successfully
convinced the property owner to allow installation of a bronze plaque
visible from the road, at the Sons of the American Revolution's expense,
honoring the veterans buried there.

Perhaps someone from MHC or from a town in Bristol or Essex counties with
lots of private historic cemeteries can weigh in.

Thanks,
Mark


Mark J. Terra-Salomão, AIA
Architect
*(he / him)*

Member, Hudson Historical Commission, Hudson Silas Felton Local Historic
District Commission, and Hudson Commission on Disabilities

www.markjterra.com
(978) 289-3326


On Mon, Jun 2, 2025 at 9:10 AM Betty Slade via MassHistPres <
masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:

> Which town entity has responsibility to protect historic but "abandoned"
> burial grounds?
>
> If a historic cemetery is on a lot that has no ownership, does the town
> have responsibility or authority to protect it from vandalism?
>
> Can the Local Historical Commission take responsibility?
>
> Betty Slade
> Westport
> CPC
>
>
>
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