17 of New York City's most historic and interesting cemeteries

Hudson Valley

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Sleepy Hollow.

This 90-acre cemetery is the epitome of all things related to the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," whose author Washington Irving rests here. Guided Irving-themed tours are offered daily in October and on weekends through the end of November. Additional themed tours include the "Evening Lantern Tour," which explores the cemetery by the light of kerosene lanterns and features steel industry titan Andrew Carnegie and industrialist William Rockefeller, as well as many other people buried here. "Murder and Mayhem" nighttime lantern tours are also available by reservation. These tours are offered on Saturdays in October and November, plus one tour on October 31.

NEW YORK

Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx.

The National Park Service calls Woodlawn Cemetery "a popular resting place for famous and influential people." This description is quite true, as more than 310,000 people have been buried for eternity in this 1863 cemetery. Famous residents of the cemetery are a "who's who" in politics, civil rights, fine and performing arts, and other fields. They include Herman Melville, "salsa queen" Celia Cruz, Dorothy Parker, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Irving Berlin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Learn more about these and others buried here on a variety of tours, including trolley tours and lighted mausoleums.

Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.

By the early 1860s, the scenery of this cemetery attracted so many visitors that it became the second largest tourist attraction in the country after Niagara Falls. It's also a Revolutionary War historic site (the Battle of Long Island took place on its grounds in 1776). These days, Green-Wood Cemetery is open for themed walking and trolley tours, art installations, bird watching, and other special seasonal events. Visit the graves of the cemetery's long list of A-list residents, including Leonard Bernstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Frederick August Otto Schwarz - founder of the iconic FAO Schwarz toy store in New York City, and Louis Comfort Tiffany. Henry Chadwick, the English-born sportswriter who instilled public interest in baseball and turned the sport into "America's pastime," is also buried here.

Trinity Church Cemetery, Lower Manhattan, and Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum, Hamilton Heights.

Located at different ends of Manhattan, these burial grounds belong to Trinity Church on Wall Street. On the church grounds is the Trinity Churchyard, which is known as the final resting place of Alexander Hamilton. His wife Eliza Hamilton and daughter-in-law Angelica Schuyler Church are also buried there. Also owned by the church, St. Paul's Chapel and Cemetery (Lower Manhattan) is the burial place of George Eaker, who mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton's son Philip in a duel.

Heading uptown, you'll come to Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum, where New York figures such as John James Audubon, Jerry Orbach, John Jacob Astor and Mayor Ed Koch are buried. It is a working mausoleum and is planted with rare roses. Use this guide to tour the grounds.

General Grant National Memorial, Morningside Heights.

The age-old question of "who is buried in Grant's Tomb" can be answered in this mausoleum, which is the largest in North America. The Civil War general and 18th President of the United States and his wife Julia are interred here. The memorial is a National Park Service facility, and rangers within the park can answer relevant questions.

Long Island

The old burial ground, Huntington.

The old burial ground, maintained by the Huntington Historical Society, is located at the top of the hill behind the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building south of Huntington's Main Street. The earliest surviving plaque dates from 1712. The society currently plans to offer tours of the cemetery on Saturdays through November 4 ( advance ticket reservations are required; no on-site sales) .

Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum , Farmingdale

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This second-level cemetery and arboretum hosts events open to the public, including Yoga Under the Stars on September 29 and the Fall Festival on October 7-9. Pinelawn is known as the "Park of Many Gardens" due to the various individual gardens neatly placed on more than 500 acres; the cemetery has a honeybee program that cares for five hives.

Greater Niagara

Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo.

Listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, this 269-acre cemetery features a topography of lakes, valleys, hills and streams, as well as sculptural masterpieces including Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Blue Sky Mausoleum. Famous residents include U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, President Millard Fillmore, and singer and songwriter Rick James. A variety of walking, lawn and trolley tours are available.

Capital-Saratoga

Oakwood Cemetery, Troy.

This 282-acre cemetery, designed by architect John C. Sidney, was created in the 1840s and overlooks the Hudson River Valley. Ten to twelve miles of roads wind through the cemetery's foliage and lawns, which are used year-round for historical education, recreation, and other purposes. The Gardner Earle Memorial Chapel and Crematory has been called the "Pearl of Oakland" - in honor of the son of a Troy collar manufacturer who died tragically in his youth. A National Historic Landmark, the Romanesque-style chapel is now used by the cemetery for weddings and other events. Twenty-four mausoleums and shrines house many members of the area's founding families, industrialists, and politicians. Samuel Wilson, better known as "Uncle Sam," is also buried here. A group of volunteers give regular tours and host events such as a holiday concert at Earl's Chapel ( December 9 ).

Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany.

What makes this rural cemetery unique is that many elected officials of the United States are buried here. A wreath-laying ceremony, named after U.S. President Chester Arthur, who is buried here, is held every October 5. Other notable graves include members of the President's Cabinet, five governors, five ambassadors and three members of the Continental Congress. The Friends of the Albany Rural Cemetery host a variety of events ( you can find a list of them on their Facebook page ).

St. Agnes Historic Cemetery, Albany.

The 114-acre historic St. Agnes Cemetery, established in 1867 near Albany, is home to many monuments, shrines and private mausoleums from the 19th and 20th centuries memorializing the area's early residents, from the very wealthy and prominent to poor immigrants and people once held in slavery. There is a Visitor Center, and The Living Room art gallery features the work of local artists. The cemetery has a full-time historian who gives tours by appointment. Materials for self-guided tours are also available, and historical stops are marked with signage. There are also a variety of activities including painting and clay art classes, history lectures, community discussions, and tombstone restoration workshops.

Finger Lakes

Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn.

This historic site and active cemetery, over 170 years old, is home to the graves of such notable New Yorkers as Harriet Tubman and William H. Seward (President Lincoln's Secretary of State). The 56-foot obelisk was erected in 1852 to commemorate Logan, or Tah-ga-jut, the famous chief of the Cayugas, a Six Nations tribe. On the north side of this memorial, a marble slab bears the inscription, "Who here mourns Logan?" The cemetery has a handy online map.

Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester.

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Since the town opened in 1838, nearly one million people have settled on the 196 acres of land. Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, who lived in Rochester, are among those buried here. Mount Hope is also known as America's first municipal Victorian cemetery, with countless examples of Victorian era funerary art. Several walking tours focus on topics such as architecture, mourning rituals, and cemetery residents, such as some mischief-makers. ASL interpretation is available upon request (14 days advance notice required).

Note: Most paths are not paved and some may be difficult for visitors using wheelchairs and other mobility aids. The guided tours web page indicates the difficulty of the walk with a rating on a scale of 1-5.

Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira.

Established in 1858, Woodlawn Cemetery is part of the "rural cemetery" concept that created park-type cemeteries in the United States. Notable residents of the cemetery include Mark Twain, Ernie Davis, the first black Heisman Trophy winner, and Hal Roach, an early movie director who worked with the films "The Little Rascals" and "Laurel and Hardy." The cemetery also celebrates Elmira's ties to the Underground Railroad with an interactive map highlighting the abolitionists who helped the cause. Special events are held, such as a ghost walk during the Halloween season.

Chautauqua-Allegheny.

Lake View Cemetery, Jamestown.

This cemetery, created after residents learned that Jamestown's burials had outgrown the needs of the village, came into existence around 1859 and today has over 45,000 burials. Perhaps the most famous resident is Lucille Ball. The beloved comedienne was a native of Jamestown. The curious and enigmatic "Lady in Glass" also attracts many visitors and is often discussed by the Fenton History Center during their tours of the cemetery.

Central New York

Sunset Hill Cemetery, Clinton.

The rolling hills and majestic shade trees of Sunset Hill Cemetery provide a peaceful tranquility, as does "The Path," a newly installed outdoor meditative environment designed in part to soothe visitors going through life changes. "The Path" features a labyrinth with an adjacent canopy whose floor is made of purchased bricks engraved with the names of loved ones.