Have you been to Green-Wood Cemetery?
Its beauty is only matched by its history, art, architecture and residents.
If you’ve never been, it’s a must see.
If you’ve been, then you know.
Green-Wood was built before Central Park and was part of the rural cemetery movement, which believed in creating cemeteries that were like parks. It was a tourist attraction in the mid 19th century, much like Niagara Falls. Half a million people visited a year! Anyone who was anyone wanted to be buried there, so the cemetery is home to the who’s who of New York and Brooklyn celebrities, inventors and historical figures.
The beautiful 478 acre park was chartered by the State of New York on April 18, 1838. So today is its anniversary!
Let’s enter the gothic revival style gates and take a peak at who’s inside!
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)
Basquiat’s headstone
Brooklyn-born Jean-Michel Basquiat rose to fame as a graffiti artist named “SAMO” and Neo-Expressionist painter in the 1980s who collaborated with Andy Warhol.
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Horace Greeley (1811-1872)
DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828)
Statue of DeWitt Clinton at Green-Wood
New York Governor and “Father of the Erie Canal”, DeWitt Clinton‘s body was moved to Green-Wood 16 years after his death in 1844 to attract tourists.
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was the first pastor of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn and brother to Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Frederick Augusto Otto Schwarz (1826-1887)
Here is the grave of the German immigrant Frederick Augusto Otto Schwarz who started F.A.O. Schwarz in Baltimore.
William M. “Boss” Tweed (1823-1878)
Elias Howe Jr. (1819-1867)
Elias Howe Jr. invented and patented the sewing machine. The Singer sewing machine company tried stealing his idea until Howe took them to court and won.
John Anderson (1812-1881)
Ever hear the Edgar Allan Poe story “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt“? It was based on the disappearance and murder of Mary Rogers, who was John Anderson’s employee.
This just scratches the surface of who is buried at Green-Wood Cemetery. Experience more of Green-Wood’s awesome history on our Best of Brooklyn Tour!
