Green-Wood Cemetery (New York, N.Y.)

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The Green-Wood Cemetery, established in 1838, was designed by David Bates Douglass to be used both as a cemetery and as a public space. It served as a park to Brooklyn and Manhattan residents before Central Park and Prospect Park were constructed and was also used as an inspiration for the design of Central Park by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted. Located in what is now the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, people have visited the cemetery over the years to pay respect to the deceased interred at the cemetery, as well as to experience the natural park-like setting and enjoy the stunning views of New York Harbor. Since the reinterment of De Witt Clinton at Green-Wood Cemetery in 1844 (he was originally buried in Albany, N.Y.), Green-Wood has become an extremely popular local attraction, with people visiting the cemetery to see the famous and infamous people buried there. In 2007, Green-Wood Cemetery was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2011, the cemetery has over 560,000 people interred within its 478 acres.

Sources: Bergman, Edward F. "Green-Wood Cemetery." In The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, 509-510. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; New York: New-York Historical Society, 1995. Green-Wood Cemetery. "About/History." Accessed March 24, 2011. http://www.green-wood.com/about-history/ "Sunset Park." In The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson and John B. Manbeck, 200-205. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2004.

From the guide to the Green-Wood Cemetery reports and publications, 1843-1995, (Brooklyn Historical Society)

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