With its red rock wall and entrance arch, Mount Hope Cemetery is one of North Attleborough's most visible landmarks. The cemetery was consecrated on July 2, 1850. The first burial there, also in 1850, was that of Martin Whitney. During 1999 the Mount Hope Cemetery became an arboretum. It was the fourth cemetery to join the membership of the American Association of Botanical Gardens & Arboreta, which sets the standards for over 400 public gardens across the United States. The very first planting was a tiny beech tree, planted on the cemetery's consecration day in 1850. The beech tree is still standing today and has grown to massive proportions. The trunk now has a girth of over seventeen feet. The arboretum is carefully maintained by the Angle Tree Garden Club.