The Historic Society was instrumental in the listing of Holbrook Chapel and Mount Vernon Cemetery in the National Registry of Historic Places in 2008.

The Holbrook Chapel, was built in 1891 as a memorial to Eli Holbrook and his wife Adeline, and also the William Nash, the first minister in West Boylston, and his wife Elizabeth by their descendants. The chapel is located on Church Street, in front of Mount Vernon cemetery.

Eli Holbrook was an industrialist with a mill and a mansion, both located on what used to be Holbrook Street. The street ran parallel to the railroad tracks, roughly in the area of the lower edge of the reservoir. Both Holbrook and Nash are buried in this cemetery. You will find their graves in the old section.

The cottage-sized building, the only Gothic structure in West Boylston, is made of field stones with a slate roof and simple recessed stain glass windows in a geometric design. The interior is composed of wood sideboards, a brick fireplace and a wooden ceiling. All the furniture is original to the chapel. This beautiful building is well maintained and still used occasionally for small funerals. Until recent times, the chapel was used during the winter to hold bodies for burial in the lower level vault.

It seems likely that the Holbrook Chapel was designed by the Worcester architectural firm of Delano and Fuller, as the plans submitted May 19, 1891, to the Mount Vernon Cemetery Association have disappeared.

In 2008, the West Boylston Historic Commission with the assistance of the West Boylston Historic Society applied for and were granted the listing of Holbrook Chapel and Mount Vernon Cemetery in the National Register of Historic Places.

Holbrook Chapel

The organ and geometric-designed stained glass window

The vaulted ceiling

Learn more about Mount Vernon Cemetery

The Chapel fireplace