The Sleepy Hollow cemetery rests within the same grounds as the Old Dutch church, though they are two separate entities. Originally incorporated as the Tarrytown Cemetery, the name was changed posthumously to honor Washington Irving.
The graves are an array of towering Victorian memorials, lavish crypts, and marble mausoleums. Besides Washington Irving, the memorial grounds are a Who's Who of famous deceased Americans. Several high standing employees of the controversial Standard Oil Company. Including John and Nelson Rockefeller make Sleepy Hollow their final resting place.
Other top industrialists buried within include cosmetics magnate Elizabeth Arden. Leo Baekeland, a man known as the father of plastic. Steel empire founder Andrew Carnegie and his family. Walter Chrysler, the founder of the Chrysler Corporation. Even real estate mogul Harry Helmsley and his wife Leona are buried here. Leona Helmsley is known for bequeathing 12 million dollars to her dog after her passing.
Several other graves in the yard represent several prominent actors, artists, athletes, authors, and politicians. Certainly a wide array of various eccentrics. But after all isn't that just what America really is?
The cemetery routinely offers guided tours around the grounds. A guide points out some of the famous grave markers as well as some of the abnormal ones. Evenings in the Autumn season a Washington Irving re-enactor stops by to read his ghostly short story.
No comments:
Post a Comment