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Upcoming Tour:
Trinity Church Cemetery in Upper Manhattan
Sunday, September 28, 1:00 p.m.
A Walking Tour Sponsored by the New York Geneological & Biographical Society
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| Willow tree funerary symbol in Trinity Church Cemetery. |
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This past April, ex-New York City mayor Edward I. Koch disclosed that, when the time came for eternal rest, he'd take Manhattan.
That would be Upper Manhattan, to be precise, in Trinity Church Cemetery.
Prompted by decades of yellow fever and cholera pandemics in the city, Trinity Church established an "ornamental
cemetery" in 1842 about ten miles away from its edifice at Wall Street. The church predicted that its new burial ground
would "like 'Mount Auburn' near Boston...be resorted to by thousands as a place of picturesque and solemn interest."
Today Trinity Church Cemetery--laid out originally by James Renwick, Jr., and re-landscaped years later by Calvert Vaux--still
overlooks the Hudson River from Washington Heights as Manhattan's only remaining active public cemetery. Among some 25,000
permanent residents of this modest 24-acre burial ground are such prominent New Yorkers as naturist John James Audubon; adventuress
Madame Eliza Jumel; merchant prince John Jacob Astor; and author Clement Clarke Moore (the credited author of "A Visit
From St. Nicholas"). But some of the city's most disenfranchised citizens reside here, too, in public lots once set aside
for African-Americans, indigent elderly women, orphans and waifs. Explore this fine example of a 19th-century garden cemetery--listed
on the National Register of Historic Places--whose vivid references attest to the city's colorful past.
Join tour leader Eric K. Washington,
author of Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem.
Meet: Audubon Terrace (on Broadway between 155th and 156th Streets).
Directions: #1 subway to 157th Street stop, or # M4, M5, or BX6 bus to 155th Street.
Fee: $15, $13 for NYGBS members.
For information and pre-paid reservations:
212.755.8532 ext. 36,
or pay on site.
Testimonials from past cemetery tours:
Eric, what a wonderful tour! Thanks so much for all of the extra details about history and personalities.
- Patricia S.
Thanks for a wonderful tour. I had never had a guided tour of the cemetery and as usual you provided lots of fascinating
details.
- Cynthia D.
Eric, what a splendid afternoon - thank you so much!...I'm so impressed with how much you packed into a couple of hours.
It was fascinating, a judicious presentation of historical dates and places.
- John M.
Eric, enjoyed the tour. I think my favorite part was at the end on the overgrown hill...it looked beautiful as if we weren't
even in the city.
- Bill C.
Eric, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance this afternoon to say how much I enjoyed today's tour. It was a fascinating glimpse
into past lives of New Yorkers!... Let me know if you have any more similar tours planned.
- Lynn H.
I enjoyed it very much. As a former member of the Church of the Intercession, who updated the parish history 30 years
ago (egad!) and whose parents are buried there, I knew some about the church, but very little about the cemetery that surrounds
it.
- Janet V.
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| Photo: Patricia South |
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