Afoot Walking Tours

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.

Tour leader Eric K. Washington,
author of Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem.

Directions: #1 subway to 157th Street stop, or # M4, M5, or BX6 bus to 155th Street.

I heard nothing but good things about Sunday's tour!...I'm sorry I missed it...Thank you so much!

- Lauren M., Director of Education
The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society

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.