Green-Wood Cemetary celebrates 175th anniversary
Decades before New York’s Central Park was created, Green-Wood Cemetery’s ponds, hills and winding paths provided not only a pastoral final resting place for the nation’s elite but also a recreational spot for picnics and horse-drawn buggies.
The still-active cemetery in Brooklyn was the largest cemetery in the world at the end of the 19th century. It was also the second most-visited tourist destination in New York behind the Niagara Falls.
The 478-acre site is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year with an exhibition opening Wednesday at the Museum of the City of New York. While it cannot replace a visit to the cemetery grounds, “A Beautiful Way to Go: New York’s Green-Wood Cemetery” provides historical context for one of only four U.S. cemeteries to be granted National Historic Landmark status.