Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum

Trinity Church Cemetery is one of New York State’s most important burying grounds. Established in 1842, it’s a 24-​acre memorial park, steeped in Revolutionary War, Civil War, civic– and social history. Its Easterly Division was originally laid out by James Renwick Jr, — before he went on to create such important works as NYC’s Grace Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and DC’s Smithsonian Institute — then the entire cemetery was improved a generation later by Calvert Vaux, co-​creator of Central Park.
Notable burials here include merchant prince John Jacob Astor, doyenne of Gilded Age fashionable society Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor, adventuress Madame Eliza Jumel, writer Clement Clarke Moore and naturalist John James Audubon. Three 19^th-​century Mayors of New York City here include the controversial Fernando Wood, the colorful A. Oakey Hall, the anti-​slavery activist Cadwallader D. Colden, and 20^th-​century Mayor Edward I. Koch who was buried here on February 4, 2013.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Trinity Church Cemetery in Washington Heights is Manhattan’s only still-​admitting burial ground (and not to be confused with its older, smaller downtown sister, Trinity Churchyard at Wall Street). Yet despite its recognized significance, long history and continued use, this cemetery remains one of New York City’s best-​kept secrets.
Whether you’re a history buff, a genealogical sleuth, an architecture enthusiast or just a nature lover, you’ll discover how this so-​called «city of the dead» can bring the world at large to life more vividly than many a guidebook.

i dont know why a cemetary is on here, but i live really close and i sometimes park right next to it. looks like a really nice, well built, old cemetary. kinda freaks me out at night. but 5 stars.

Back in the 1800s and into the 1900s, some cemeteries were actually designed as parks, where families could come and have picnics while paying their respects at graves (like the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston that was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted). It’s a strange thought now, since we mostly associate cemeteries with zombies and fright flicks.
Cemeteries have always held a certain fascination for me and not in a macabre way. I’m a historic preservationist by training, so it’s not the death that interests me. It’s the history. And when I wander among all of those gravestones, I like to think that I’m doing some sort of duty to those that are past by reading the inscriptions and, for a moment, knowing that they existed.
The Trinity Cemetery uptown is one of the most amazing sites on Manhattan, and not just because you’re not expecting to run into a cemetery on this island. Charles Dickens’ son, Alfred Tennyson Dickens, is interred here, as are John James Audubon, John Jacob Astor, and Clement Clarke Moore (writer of «A Visit From Saint Nicholas,» aka «‘Twas the Night Before Christmas»).