Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York, USA

The cemetery blog A Morbid Fascination posted a few days ago a link to the USA Today article Illustrious dead, living beauty lure visitors to rural cemeteries about Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, upstate New York, published on 17 October 2010. As the blog writer states, it is well worth reading.

I have been to upstate New York before, but not Rochester or the said cemetery. The article mentions, however, the Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, which I have visited twice (1999 and 2006).

The website of The Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery can be found here.

I haven't posted any cemetery blog articles for a while, but hope to do something about this in the near future.

The Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, USA

The main gate at 25th Street, Brooklyn, New York.

The Historic Chapel at The Green-Wood Cemetery, built in 1911.

Grave of the composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990).

Grave of Gudmund Tollefsen Hoelseth (1859-1940) and his wife Hanna Sophie, née Harstad (1863-1927). Gudmund, who was the younger brother of my great-great grandfather Ole Tollefsen Hoelseth, was born at Langerud in Åmot, Norway, and died near Wilmington, Vermont. For the majority of his years in the United States he lived in Brooklyn. Hannah was born in Holmestrand, Norway. Section C, Lot 36551.




Grave of Arthur Gudmundsen Hoelseth (1892-1980) and his wife Marie Byers, née Fuller (1894-1968). Arthur was the only son of Gudmund and Hanna Sophie Hoelseth. Interred is also Arthur and Marie's stillborn son (b/d 1930). Section 138, Lot. 33065.

Grave of Madge Marie Holman, née Hoelseth (1931-1998), the only daughter of Arthur and Marie Hoelseth. Setion138, Lot 33065.

Grave of Marie Hoelseth's parents Rudolph C. Fuller (1851-1909) and Madge, née Byers (1861-1931). Section 138, Lot 33065.



Not sure why I took a photo of this grave. Could it be that one of my friends has Knobloch as a middle name? The family is surely German of origin. Section 92, Lot 5137.

The Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as one of USA's first rural cemeteries. It is rather large - 438 acres - and has more than 560.000 graves. The cemetery was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. See the website for directions.

The website also provides a list of «Famous residents » of The Green-Wood Cemetery.

I visited the cemetery for the second time in July 2006. The cemetery is an interesting place to visit, but July is certainly not the best month (August is probably not much better either), so avoid the summer months if you can. It can be really hot out there! Please also remember to use good shoes. The cemetery is huge, and if you don't have a car, you will have to walk long distances to find the graves you are interested in visiting.

Updated Tuesday 15 April 2010 at 11.15 (misspelling corrected).