Prospect Cemetery

Last weekend I was in the mood to visit a cemetery, so I decided to visit Prospect Cemetery in Queens. It had been on my list ever since I heard it mentioned at a lecture I attended last summer about urban cemeteries (I was the only one in attendance under the age of 85).

Located in Jamaica, Queens, Prospect Cemetery was established in 1660, making it one of the few remaining colonial cemeteries in the city. It was designated a landmark in 1977, and The City Landmark Commission stated it was the oldest cemetery in New York. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and today it sits in the middle of the York College-CUNY campus.

I couldn't find much information about actually visiting the cemetery, but I decided to take my chances. Turns out, Prospect Cemetery is not very easy to get close to and it's definitely not open to the public—the cemetery association's website does have tours listed but the dates haven't been updated since 2012.

After exhausting all other options, I walked into a York College building (everything was surrounded by fences and locked gates) which led to the following exchange with a very confused security guard: Me: "How do you get to the cemetery?" Guard: "WHO ARE YOU." Me: "I was just interested in... seeing the cemetery?" Guard: "... You can't go inside of it." Me: "Well, can I just, like, go look at it?" Guard: *points to the door*

Through the door was a courtyard fenced in on all sides, one of which butted up to the cemetery. I was annoyed that I didn't have an easier time accessing the cemetery, but I was also kind of proud of myself for actually having the courage to speak to an actual human, which—as awkward as it was—paid off.

I still couldn't get inside of the actual cemetery grounds, but it is small enough that I could see quite a lot of it from just walking the perimeter. Also on the grounds is the Chapel of the Sisters, built in 1857 by Nicholas Ludlum to honor his three deceased daughters. Apparently the cemetery had been in really bad condition for a long time until preservation efforts began in the early 2000s, but aside from some overgrown grass and a few broken stones it was in no worse shape that any other city cemetery I've seen.

Although I wasn't able to see the majority of the headstones up close, I did see a stone that just said "babies," which is in close competition for the creepiest thing I've ever had the pleasure/displeasure of seeing in a cemetery.