One of the prettiest places to visit in Brooklyn, New York is Green-Wood Cemetery, located at 5th Avenue and 25th Street. Established in 1838 as one of America's first rural cemeteries, its 478 acres of hills, valleys, and glacial ponds, with paths and roads that wind through its magnificent scenery. It is beautiful in all the seasons. I've blogged about it when it was dressed in the pinks and yellows of Spring and the cool blues and white snows of Winter. In autumn, Green-Wood's collection of over 7,000 trees, many of them over one hundred and fifty years old, are a spectacular sight to see!
Valley Water, one of four glacial ponds, is rimmed with autumnal trees.
Crescent Water
All the ponds are glacial kettle ponds from the last ice age. They reflect the colors of the trees in their still water.
The trees are spectacular! Sadly a few hundred trees were lost during severe storms in the past few years, but the impact of tree loss is not that noticeable. Many families plant new trees or buy benches as memorials to their deceased family members.
The trees are beautiful canopies over many of the grave sites.
Their size is tremendous!
As you can imagine, many kinds of birds make Green-Wood their home, or migration stop, and the cemetery is a favorite place for bird watchers.
It appears that a couple in love once left their mark on this tree.
With 560,000 "permanent residents," Green-Wood Cemetery has one of the largest outdoor collections of 19th and 20th century statuary, and has almost eight hundred mausoleums.
Many, like this Henry O. Havemeyer Mausoleum, are built right into a hill side.
"Henry Osborne Havemeyer , 1847-1907, American industrialist, b. New York City. He inherited large family interests in sugar refining and, with his brother Theodore, expanded them. At his death his American Sugar Refining Company controlled about half the sugar refining of the country. A large part of his notable art collection was bequeathed in 1929 by his widow to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. " Source
There are twenty nine steps leading up to the Imre Kiralfy Mausoleum
"Imre Kiralfy was the world's most prominent showbiz producer 100 years ago. He was known for producing huge stage spectacles in major cites around the world, including New York, London, Paris, Brussels, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc. He built the Great White City in London and hosted the 1908 Olympic games there. He produced numerous Exhibitions including the Anglo American Exhibition of 1908 in London. He was a very accomplished man. His Broadway production of the play Excelsior was the first show on Broadway to have electric lighting, which was personally designed and installed by Thomas Edison." Source
Click on the source link to see his great, great, great grandson's visit inside the mausoleum.
I peeked through the door window to take this photo of a beautiful stained glass window inside.
The Charles Feltman Mausoleum.
According to the website Going Out In Style the Feltman story is an interesting one. He was the inventor of the hot dog!
"Feltman, a pie maker/baker, had a push cart on New York’s Coney Island. The pies he was selling weren't doing so well and he just couldn't’seem to compete with the inns on Coney Island that were selling hot dishes. Feltman pondered long and hard and thought back to his youth. He remembered a long, slightly curved sausage, known as a dachshund sausage, that the butcher’s guild in Frankfurt, Germany, had popularized. A light bulb went off in his head and he abandoned the pie business and concentrated on selling frankfurter sandwiches. His cart was quite small and he only had room for his little frankfurter sandwich and two condiments, mustard and sauerkraut. His simple idea was an instant success and shortly thereafter he opened Feltman’s German Beer Garden, complete with carousel where he continued to sell his money making sausages."
A close up of some of the exquisite statuary on the facade of Feltman's mausoleum.
There are many more interesting and historical people buried in Green-Wood, and I'll show some more of them on a future post . Some of their stories may surprise you!
For now, I hope you enjoyed strolling with me under the autumn trees of Green-Wood. Before we know it Winter will be here again!
I'm linking with Susan of A Southern Daydreamer for her blog's "Outdoor Wednesday" event, Jenny Matlock's blog for her "Alphabe Thursday" as this week the letter is "G," and Sandi of The Whistlestop Cafe Cooking for her blog's 'Friday Linky Party.'' Please visit these blogs and join in all the fun!
