From its earliest years, the grounds of the Green-Wood Cemetery have been graced by cast iron signs marking its streets and paths. Unfortunately, even cast iron doesn’t always last forever. Some of the original signs have been crushed under falling trees and branches. Others have been run over by carriages and cars. Just three or … Read more
Christmas Day, 2009. Snow covers the cemetery, bringing great serenity.
Green-Wood Cemetery’s main entrance, at 25th Street and Fifth Avenue, is adorned by spectacular brownstone arches. Designed by Richard Upjohn (the architect of Trinity Church at the head of Wall Street in Manhattan and the first president of the American Institute of Architects) and his son, Richard M. Upjohn (who is interred at Green-Wood), the … Read more
The New York Restoration Project (NYRP), founded and sponsored by entertainer/philanthropist Bette Midler, and a part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s MillionTreesNYC, has returned to Green-Wood Cemetery. In the summer of 2008, Green-Wood Superintendent of Grounds Operation Art Presson was approached by NYRP leaders. They thought our grounds would be a great place to plant trees … Read more
Nathaniel Currier started his lithography printing company that would be become the famous firm of Currier and Ives (both Currier and Ives are interred, of course, at Green-Wood Cemetery) in the 1830’s, printing letterheads, sheet music, and other routine business items. But, in 1835, Currier headed in a new direction: illustrated news. It was in … Read more
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, America’s first matinee idol and its first internationally acclaimed classical composer/musician, is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery. Here’s Cecile Licad, in 2003, playing Gottschalk’s Manchega. Quite a performance, and on a Steinway piano (the Steinway family owns the largest tomb at Green-Wood, with room for 256 interments: 128 on the ground floor and … Read more
Green-Wood’s 478 acres are home to 7000 trees. And, as you may have guessed, those trees produce millions and millions of leaves. For the last few years, it has been the practice at Green-Wood, in the fall, to mow most of those leaves in place as a mulch. But, because that has resulted in a … Read more
A new planting has just gone in on the hill off Oak Avenue, directly in the line of the gaze of the bronze Horace Greeley across the road. Approximately seventy victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 are interred at Green-Wood Cemetery. Several of them, including three firemen from … Read more
It has been an unusually warm fall at Green-Wood. Many flowers continue to bloom. Here, a few that are still in their glory. Most of these are in the gardens near our Arches, our front gates. The brownstone retains heat, creating a warmer area for plants. These gardens were planted by Superintendent of the Grounds … Read more
The Green-Wood Historic Fund’s Restoration and Preservation Program is truly cutting edge. No other cemetery in America has as active and as wide-reaching a program. Headed by Frank Morelli, it has rebuilt entire monuments with pieces dug out of the ground or molded as needed. It has restored wings and hands to angels. It has … Read more