Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (Sleepy Hollow, New York)

USA / New York / Sleepy Hollow / Sleepy Hollow, New York / U.S. Route 9 (New York), 540
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Burial yard for Leona and Harry Helmsley - real estate magnates of late 20th century NYC.
Andrew Carnegie - Steel magnate of the early 20th century.

Other famous individuals buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery include Andrew Carnegie, Walter Chrysler, William Rockefeller, and Elizabeth Arden.

That Irving Family plot is also found here in this cemetery. Washington Irving is buried there, who was made famous by such works as Rip Van Winkle and of course, the unforgettable Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Washington Irving was also the one responsible for the cemetery's name. It was originally called the Tarrytown Cemetery, but in classic Irving style he wrote a letter which read:

"My Dear Clark:

I send you herewith a plan of a rural cemetery projected by some of the worthies of Tarrytown, on the woody hills adjacent to the Sleepy Hollow Church. I have no pecuniary interest in it, yet I hope it may succeed, as it will keep that beautiful and umbrageous neighborhood sacred from the anti-poetical and all-leveling axe. Besides, I trust that I shall one day lay my bones there. The projectors are plain matter-of-fact men, but are already, I believe, aware of the blunder which they have committed in naming it the “Tarrytown,” instead of the “Sleepy Hollow” Cemetery. The latter name would have been enough of itself to secure the patronage of all desirous of sleeping quietly in their graves.

I beg you to correct this oversight, should you, as I trust you will, notice this sepulchral enterprise.

I hope as the spring opens you will accompany me in one of my brief visits to Sunnyside, when we will make another trip to Sleepy Hollow, and (thunder and lightning permitting) have a colloquy among the tombs.

Yours, very truly,
Washington Irving
New York, April 27, 1849"

In light of his humble request the cemetery was renamed the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

www.flickr.com/photos/olmsted_archives/albums/721576535...
www.flickr.com/photos/olmsted_archives/albums/721576877...

540 North Broadway
Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591
(914) 631-0081
www.facebook.com/thesleepyhollowcemetery/
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Hollow_Cemetery
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   41°5'44"N   73°51'32"W

Comments

  • Very cool, and spooky!
  • A beautiful place to go for a walk. Just be sure to get back to the gate before closing. My friends and I almost were locked in for the night!
This article was last modified 4 years ago