WOODLAWN CEMETERY
Geographic Setting
Situated in the northern Bronx and bordered by Webster Avenue to the west, East 233rd Street to the south, Jerome Avenue and Van Cortlandt Park East to the west and northwest, and The Bronx River Parkway to the east, Woodlawn Cemetery spans more than 400 acres of rolling hills, curving drives, and monumental artistry. It lies at the confluence of several of the borough’s most defining natural and civic features: the Bronx River, which meanders along its eastern edge; Van Cortlandt Park, rising to the northwest; and the residential enclave of Woodlawn Heights, nestled just beyond its stone walls to the north.
From above, Woodlawn appears as a vast green expanse within the urban grid—a serene city of memory and art amid the Bronx’s vitality. Designed as a landscaped park and conceived as a “rural cemetery,” it serves not only as a final resting place for more than 300,000 individuals but also as one of New York’s most extraordinary open-air museums, filled with beaux-arts mausoleums, Victorian monuments, and tree-lined avenues that echo the romantic ideals of the 19th century.
Its sweeping vistas, carefully graded hills, and tranquil ponds invite reflection and wandering. Accessible by both the Woodlawn Metro-North Station and the 2 and 5 subway lines, the cemetery remains at once secluded and central—an oasis where the city’s history is carved in marble, bronze, and stone.
Etymology
The name “Woodlawn” was chosen in 1863, the year of the cemetery’s founding, to evoke the pastoral ideals of the rural cemetery movement. The word’s fusion—“wood” for forested hills and “lawn” for cultivated meadows—perfectly described the landscape’s intended character: a naturalistic setting that would blend remembrance with beauty.
The founders of the Woodlawn Cemetery Association sought to create a burial ground distinct from the crowded churchyards and urban cemeteries of Manhattan. In the mid-19th century, the word “Woodlawn” carried connotations of refinement, serenity, and moral uplift—values aligned with the era’s vision of death as a passage into eternal peace among nature. Over time, the name would extend beyond the cemetery itself to shape the identity of the surrounding neighborhood, Woodlawn Heights, symbolizing not loss, but enduring life in harmony with landscape and legacy.
The Neighborhood
Origins through the 19th Century
Woodlawn Cemetery was incorporated on December 29, 1863, amid the height of the Civil War—a period of both national mourning and urban transformation. Its creation reflected the rural cemetery movement, pioneered by Mount Auburn Cemetery (Cambridge, MA, 1831) and Green-Wood Cemetery (Brooklyn, 1838), which reimagined burial grounds as landscaped sanctuaries for both the dead and the living.
Located on what had been the northern estate lands of the Van Cortlandt and Delancey families, Woodlawn was deliberately chosen for its topography: undulating hills, ancient oaks, and commanding views of the Bronx River Valley. The cemetery was designed by James C. Sidney and later refined by Robert Treat Paine, who laid out its sweeping drives and curvilinear paths in harmony with the terrain. Its dedication ceremony in 1865—just months after Lincoln’s assassination—was marked by solemn grandeur and optimism, embodying a nation’s desire for enduring monuments and moral renewal.
In its early decades, Woodlawn became the chosen burial ground for New York’s elite: bankers, industrialists, artists, and politicians who sought eternal repose in a setting that reflected both their aesthetic taste and civic stature. The cemetery’s park-like design offered respite from the crowded metropolis below; families would picnic along its avenues, and Sunday excursions by carriage or train became fashionable outings.
By the 1880s, Woodlawn was hailed as one of the “Seven Great Cemeteries of America,” rivaling Père Lachaise in Paris. Its grounds quickly filled with grand family plots and private mausoleums designed by the nation’s leading architects and sculptors.
Early 20th Century: The Age of Monuments
The early 20th century marked Woodlawn’s architectural and cultural zenith. As New York entered its Gilded Age and early modern era, the cemetery became a showcase of design, artistry, and craftsmanship—an open-air pantheon of American achievement.
Dozens of prominent architects—McKim, Mead & White, Carrère & Hastings, John Russell Pope, and Cass Gilbert, among others—designed mausoleums in classical, Gothic, Egyptian, and art deco styles. The Belmont, Astor, and Woolworth families commissioned monumental tombs that rivaled European cathedrals in scale and detail. Bronze sculptures by Daniel Chester French and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney adorned crypts and memorials, transforming the grounds into a veritable museum of American funerary art.
Yet Woodlawn was never only for the wealthy. The cemetery’s rolling acres accommodated public lots, veterans’ sections, and fraternal society plots—creating a democratic landscape where grandeur and modesty coexisted. Its Jerome Avenue gate, completed in 1879, and the later Webster Avenue gate (1905) provided grand yet welcoming entrances to what had become one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world.
By the 1920s, Woodlawn had matured into both a civic landmark and a cultural institution. Guidebooks and postcards celebrated its beauty, and visitors from across the country came to see the resting places of literary, musical, and industrial giants.
Mid–Late 20th Century: Preservation and Recognition
The mid-20th century brought new challenges and new meaning to Woodlawn. As urban expansion surrounded the cemetery, it became an island of continuity amid the Bronx’s shifting landscape. The postwar decades saw declining family burials but growing appreciation for the site’s artistry and historical importance.
During the 1960s–1980s, as parts of the Bronx endured disinvestment, Woodlawn remained meticulously maintained, sustained by its endowment and by the dedication of its caretakers. At the same time, its cultural significance deepened: historians, artists, and community groups began to document its architecture, horticulture, and remarkable roster of interments.
Among those buried at Woodlawn are more than 300 notable figures who shaped American life and culture, including:
Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Celina González – icons of jazz and world music.
Herman Melville, Nellie Bly, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton – authors, reformers, and trailblazers.
Fiorello H. LaGuardia, David Farragut, and Robert Moses – civic leaders and public servants.
Joseph Pulitzer, Madam C. J. Walker, and J. C. Penney – entrepreneurs and media pioneers.
The cemetery’s evolving character—part historical archive, part living landscape—became a metaphor for the Bronx itself: resilient, diverse, and layered with meaning. In 2006, Woodlawn Cemetery was designated a National Historic Landmark, recognizing its significance as both a cultural landscape and an unparalleled collection of funerary art.
21st Century: Cultural Renaissance and Living Heritage
Today, Woodlawn Cemetery & Conservancy functions not only as a resting place but as an active cultural institution—hosting concerts, walking tours, art exhibits, and educational programs that connect visitors to the city’s past. The Woodlawn Conservancy, founded in 1999, leads restoration projects, archives historic materials, and promotes awareness of the cemetery’s ecological and artistic value.
Its partnership with Van Cortlandt Park and the Bronx River Alliance has strengthened its role in the borough’s green network, while its restoration of historic structures—such as the Jerome Avenue Gatehouse, Woolworth Mausoleum, and Belmont Memorial—has ensured that these masterworks endure for future generations.
Today, Woodlawn remains active, serving diverse communities across New York. Its once homogenous demographic has given way to a mosaic of cultures and faiths—Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, African-American, Caribbean, and Hispanic—reflecting the city’s living diversity even in death. The cemetery’s grounds continue to inspire artists, writers, and photographers who find in its hills a rare tranquility within the urban sprawl.
Spirit and Legacy
The spirit of Woodlawn Cemetery transcends mourning; it embodies the union of art, nature, and memory. Here, marble and granite speak as eloquently as words: angels lift their arms skyward, bronze doors glimmer in dappled light, and oak-lined paths wind toward eternal horizons.
Woodlawn’s legacy lies in its synthesis of democratic inclusion and artistic grandeur—a place where the powerful and the humble rest beneath the same trees, united by landscape and time. It is both a monument to individual achievement and a collective archive of New York’s soul.
New York City
Use this custom Google map to explore where every neighborhood in all five boroughs of New York City is located.
The Five Boroughs
One of New York City’s unique qualities is its organization in to 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. These boroughs are part pragmatic administrative districts, and part vestiges of the region’s past. Each borough is an entire county in New York State - in fact, Brooklyn is, officially, Kings County, while Staten Island is, officially Richmond County. But that’s not the whole story …
Initially, New York City was located on the southern tip of Manhattan (now the Financial District) that was once the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Across the East River, another city was rising: Brooklyn. In time, the city planners realized that unification between the rapidly rising cities would create commercial and industrial opportunities - through streamlined administration of the region.
So powerful was the pull of unification between New York and Brooklyn that three more counties were pulled into the unification: The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. And on January 1, 1898, the City of New York unified two cities and three counties into one Greater City of New York - containing the five boroughs we know today.
But because each borough developed differently and distinctly until unification, their neighborhoods likewise uniquely developed. Today, there are nearly 390 neighborhoods, each with their own histories, cultures, cuisines, and personalities - and each with residents who are fiercely proud of their corner of The Big Apple.
