Description
IMAGES OF CYPRESS HILL CEMETERY
By Stephen C. Duer
For the past 162 years, historic Cypress Hills Cemetery has quietly served thousands of New Yorkers and the public at large. This place of eternal rest obtained the distinct honor of being the first rural cemetery in Greater New York to be organized under the Rural Cemetery Act of 1847. Cypress Hills provides a perfect balance of lush landscaping, funerary art and sculpture, and a final resting place for some of America’s most notable figures, such as Jackie Robinson, Mae West, and Eubie Blake. Carved on countless headstones are mysterious markings and secretive symbols that the living can ponder. Cypress Hills Cemetery illustrates and demystifies the various legends of those interred in these hallowed grounds.
Stephen C. Duer has owned and operated his own sightseeing tour company, Marvelous Manhattan Tours, for the past 20 years. Known for his knowledge and enthusiastic upbeat style, his passion for cemeteries led him to create Cemetery Nation, which explores all aspects of this intriguing subject. Allan B. Smith, a retired architect, is a local historian and trustee of the Queens Historical Society. He is also an active member of several other historical and preservation societies and a restorer of the Wyckoff-Snediker family cemetery in Woodhaven Queens.