Wright Cemetery - Westford MA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Westford’s Wright Cemetery first came into use around 1819, which is the time of the earliest death date on a gravestone. The town of Westford granted the privilege of a burying ground on Groton Road (then called the North Road) in 1836. Approximately two dozen stones survive from the first half of the 19th century. Gravestone ornament at the time was restrained and the surrounding landscape was allowed to appear as a grassy plot marked by slate headstones. The most basic of maintenance schedules has allowed the cemetery to retain much of its historic appearance by virtue of the densely grouped slate markers near the road, the small scale of markers and the simple landscape unencumbered by modern paths and furniture. Burials are ongoing in the Wright Cemetery.

The Wright Cemetery was the fourth of the town’s historic cemeteries to be established. Westford’s earliest cemetery was originally called the East Burying Ground and is now called Fairview Cemetery. (NR 2005) This is on Main Street east of the town center and came into use around the turn of the 18th century. The second burial ground was the former North Burial Ground established in 1753, now called Hillside and located at the corner of Depot and Nutting Roads. The West Burial Ground or Westlawn (NR 2005) was established in 1761
on Concord Road at Country Road. Nearly all of those interred here belonged to the First Parish Church until 1829, the time of the the founding of the Congregational Church.

Street address: Groton Rd Westford , MA County / Borough / Parish: Middlesex Year listed: 2005 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1950-1974, 1925-1949, 1900-1924, 1875-1899, 1850-1874, 1825-1849, 1800-1824 Historic function: Funerary Current function: Funerary Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/21/2017 RickAnn visited it