Green-Wood Cemetery

"Green-Wood" redirects here. For other uses, see Greenwood (disambiguation) and Greenwood Cemetery (disambiguation).

Green-Wood Cemetery
New York City Landmark No. 0149, 1197, 1233
The Gothic revival entrance to the cemetery at 25th Street, designed by Richard M. Upjohn
Map
Location500 25th Street, Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Coordinates40°39′09″N 73°59′28″W / 40.65250°N 73.99111°W / 40.65250; -73.99111
Area478 acres (193 ha)
Built1838[1]
ArchitectCemetery: David Bates Douglass
Gates: Richard M. Upjohn
Chapel: Warren & Wetmore
Weir Greenhouse: G. Curtis Gillespie
NRHP reference No.97000228
NYCL No.0149, 1197, 1233
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 8, 1997[5]
Designated NHLSeptember 20, 2006[6]
Designated NYCLGates: April 19, 1966[2]
Weir Greenhouse: April 13, 1982[3]
Fort Hamilton Parkway Gate & Green-Wood Cemetery Chapel: April 12, 2016[4]

Green-Wood Cemetery is a 478-acre (193 ha) cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City.[7] The cemetery is located between South Slope/Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blocks southwest of Prospect Park. Its boundaries include, among other streets, 20th Street to the northeast, Fifth Avenue to the northwest, 36th and 37th Streets to the southwest, Fort Hamilton Parkway to the south, and McDonald Avenue to the east.

Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery, in a time of rapid urbanization when churchyards in New York City were becoming overcrowded. Described as "Brooklyn's first public park by default long before Prospect Park was created",[8] Green-Wood Cemetery was so popular that it inspired a competition to design Central Park in Manhattan, as well as Prospect Park nearby.

The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 and was made a National Historic Landmark in 2006. In addition, the 25th Street gates, the Weir Greenhouse, and the Fort Hamilton Parkway Gate & Green-Wood Cemetery Chapel were separately designated as city landmarks by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission at various times.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference nhlsum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYCL-0149 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYCL-1197 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Hurley 2016, p. 1.
  5. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference NRHP designation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "About / History". Green-Wood Cemetery. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  8. ^ White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5. p. 687.