7 Historic Cemeteries Worth Exploring This Fall

Stone walls, hillside paths and old oaks above the Pocantico River, in the Hudson Valley village that gave America the Headless Horseman. In October the woods around the cemetery turn gold, and it becomes one of the region's most atmospheric fall walks.

History beneath your feet

The cemetery was established in 1849. Washington Irving, the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, was buried here in 1859 in his family plot.

The Headless Horseman is fiction. Irving published the story in 1820 and set it in the landscape he knew, including the churchyard of the neighboring Old Dutch Church, which dates to the late 1600s. The church and its old burying ground are real, and you can see them next door.

Nearly 500 acres of hills, ponds, mausoleums and old trees in the middle of Brooklyn. Many first-time visitors expect a cemetery and find something closer to a historic park, with Manhattan views from the top of the hill.

History beneath your feet

Founded in 1838, Green-Wood was one of America's early 'rural cemeteries,' designed as a landscaped place for the living to walk as well as to bury the dead. In the 19th century it drew huge numbers of visitors and helped inspire the push for public parks like Central Park and Prospect Park.

Its highest point, Battle Hill, saw fighting during the 1776 Battle of Long Island. Green-Wood is a National Historic Landmark.

Terraced paths and Victorian monuments on bluffs above the Schuylkill River. In fall, the colors along the river valley frame some of the most elaborate 19th-century funerary art in the country.

History beneath your feet

Laurel Hill was founded in 1836, just after Mount Auburn, and was designed by architect John Notman. It became a model for rural cemeteries across the country.

In 1998 it became the first cemetery in the United States named a National Historic Landmark.

Rolling hills, holly trees and big hardwoods above the rapids of the James River. It's one of the most dramatic cemetery landscapes in the South, and one of the most historically loaded.

History beneath your feet

Hollywood Cemetery was established in 1847 and dedicated in 1849, also designed by John Notman. Its name comes from the holly trees on the hills.

Two U.S. presidents are buried here, along with thousands of Confederate soldiers and Confederate president Jefferson Davis, a reminder that the cemetery also carries the Civil War's painful legacy.

Live oaks draped in Spanish moss, marble angels and a riverside bluff on the Wilmington River. Bonaventure defines Southern Gothic atmosphere. Fall here doesn't mean red maples; it means softer light and mild air for walking.

History beneath your feet

The land was once a plantation. It became a private cemetery in the late 1800s, and the City of Savannah bought it in 1907.

The 1994 book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil made Bonaventure famous around the world. The 'Bird Girl' statue from its cover once stood here, but was moved to a Savannah museum to protect it.

Nearly 300 acres of rolling hills, lakes and labeled trees in the middle of Louisville. It's a cemetery and an arboretum, and in fall it's one of the best color walks in Kentucky.

History beneath your feet

Cave Hill was founded in 1848 as a Victorian rural cemetery. Over time it grew into a noted arboretum with hundreds of tree species.

Ponds, hills and thousands of trees on the Cambridge–Watertown line. In fall, New England color frames the monuments and makes the case for why this place changed American landscapes.

History beneath your feet

Founded in 1831, Mount Auburn is widely recognized as America's first major landscaped 'rural cemetery.' Its garden design influenced later cemeteries and the public park movement. It's a National Historic Landmark and a working arboretum.