Green-Wood Cemetery

Green-Wood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in Brooklyn spanning 193 hectares with rolling hills, ponds, and Battle Hill, the highest point in Brooklyn at 66 meters elevation. The grounds hold over 600,000 burials in various memorial structures ranging from simple stones to large mausoleums.

David Bates Douglass designed this cemetery in 1838 when city churchyards reached capacity and the rural cemetery movement began. The site became a model for other American cities creating similar burial grounds outside urban centers.

This cemetery holds the graves of artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, politicians including William M. Tweed, and publishers like Horace Greeley, whose memorials and burial structures stand throughout the grounds. Visitors walk among simple stones and ornate tombs that represent different periods of American memorial design.

Visitors enter through the main gate at Fifth Avenue and 25th Street where maps and information are available. Guided walks help with orientation along the winding paths between hills and ponds.

Four natural glacial kettle ponds sit scattered across the grounds and create different habitats for local wildlife. These water bodies formed during the last ice age when retreating glaciers left deep depressions in the bedrock.

Location: Brooklyn

Inception: 1838

Architects: David Bates Douglass

Address: 5th Avenue & 25th Street

Phone: +17187687300

Email: info@greenwoodcemetery.org

Website: https://green-wood.com

GPS coordinates: 40.65241,-73.99024

Latest update: December 11, 2025 23:58