Woodlawn Cemetery – Bronx, NY

History

The Woodlawn Cemetery is the resting place of Jonathan Thorne and many of his descendants. It is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and a designated National Historic Landmark. Located south of Woodlawn Heights, Bronx, New York City It has the character of a rural cemetery.

Woodlawn Cemetery opened during the Civil War in 1863 in what was then southern Westchester County, in an area that was annexed to New York City in 1874. It is notable in part as the final resting place of some well known figures including Irving Berlin, George M Cohan, Robert Moses, Fiorello LaGuardia, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, RH Macy, JC Penny, Joseph Pulitzer, FW Woolworth & Antoinette Perry.

The Cemetery covers more than 400 acres and is the resting place for more than 300,000 people. Built on rolling hills, its tree-lined roads lead to some unique memorials, some designed by famous American architects. The cemetery contains seven Commonwealth war graves – six British and Canadian servicemen of World War I and an airman of the Royal Canadian Air Force of World War II.