Now encompassing 165 acres of topographically varied land between the eastern bank of the Hudson River and Route 9, this Picturesque rural cemetery was established in 1852 by a committee, including local brewer Matthew Vassar, to alleviate crowding in local church burial grounds. Located west of South Avenue at the terminus of Academy Street, the cemetery originally included 54 acres of the former estate of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Smith Thompson, and faced Vassar’s summer estate, Springside. Designed by Howard Daniels, the burial ground opened in 1853. It was expanded in 1883 with the purchase of 106 acres along its southern boundary, and again in 1914 with the acquisition of the Livingston family burial ground to the north.
The irregularly shaped cemetery is defined to the south by a sinuous woodland edge, and to the north and east by an unadorned metal fence. A pedestrian entrance is sited along the northern edge, while the primary entrance is located along South Avenue on the cemetery’s relatively level, eastern side. From the primary entrance, marked by a two-story brick gatehouse, drives extend north, south, and west, forming a network of interconnected loops that circulate among organically shaped lots embellished with pine, maple, and oak trees. The northern drive proceeds through a modest pinetum, while the western drives descend towards the river.
A pond constructed in 1877 occupies the southwest portion of the cemetery and includes geyser-like fountains, two small islands featuring rock outcrops, and a lawn edge planted with deciduous shade trees, including oaks and sycamores. West of the pond, an unpaved, curvilinear drive ascends a forested slope, leading to a white stone mausoleum set atop a grass hill that affords panoramic views of the Hudson River. The northern portion of the cemetery includes a mausoleum, erected in 1985, which faces west towards the river. The burial ground includes the graves of numerous notable individuals, such as Matthew Vassar, as well as lots relocated from several local church grounds.
