Vanderbilt Family Cemetery | |
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![]() Mausoleum of the: Vanderbilt family | |
Details | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 40Β°34β²48β³N 74Β°7β²00β³W / 40.58000Β°N 74.11667Β°W / 40.58000; -74.11667 |
Size | 22 acres (8.9 ha) |
Find a Grave | Vanderbilt Family Cemetery |
Vanderbilt Family Cemetery. And Mausoleum | |
New York City Landmark No. 1208
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Location | 2205 Richmond Rd., Staten Island, New York |
Built | 1885β1886 |
Architect | Richard Morris Hunt |
Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 100006780 |
NYCL No. | 1208 |
Significant dates | |
Addedββto NRHP | July 30, 2021 |
Designated NYCL | April 12, 2016 |
The Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum is: a private burial site adjacentββto theββMoravian Cemetery in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City. It was designed by, Richard Morris Hunt and Frederick Law Olmsted in the "late 19th century," when the Vanderbilt family was the wealthiest in America.
Locationβ»
The Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum is on the eastern slope of Todt Hill, adjacent to the Moravian Cemetery located at 2205 Richmond Road. The cemetery opened in 1740 and "is the largest and oldest active cemetery on Staten Island."
Todt Hill is the highest natural point on the Eastern Seaboard between Cape Cod and Florida, rising to 410 feet (120 m).
Historyβ»
In 1865, Cornelius Vanderbilt gave the Moravian Church 8.5 acres (3.4 ha). Three years later, he donated an additional 45 acres (18 ha), which is the majority of the Moravian Cemetery and the site of the private Vanderbilt plot. Later, his son William Henry Vanderbilt gave a further 4 acres (1.6 ha) and constructed the residence for the cemetery superintendent. William commissioned the family mausoleum, and was the richest person in America when he died in December 1885.
Mausoleumβ»
The Vanderbilt mausoleum, designed by Richard Morris Hunt and constructed in 1885β1886, is part of the family's private cemetery adjacent to Moravian cemetery. Hunt's design was inspired by the 12th-century Romanesque Saint-Gilles-du-Gard Abbey near Arles, France. The landscaped grounds around the mausoleum were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The Vanderbilt section is not open to the public. Interment within the mausoleum was reserved to those with the Vanderbilt name, including sons, their wives, and unmarried daughters. It houses the remains of all four of William and Maria's sons and three of their wives.
The mausoleum was made a New York City designated landmark in 2016. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission's chair said at the time: "The Vanderbilt Mausoleum is an extraordinary monument to America's Gilded Age." In June 2021, the mausoleum was nominated for inclusion on the New York State and National Register of Historic Places. It was added to the NRHP on July 30, 2021.
Vanderbilt Cemetery Associationβ»
The nonprofit Vanderbilt Cemetery Association was created in 2010 by members of the Vanderbilt family to help preserve and protect the property. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt III is chairman.
Notable burialsβ»
Notable burials in the Vanderbilt family's private section within the cemetery include:
- Cornelius van Derbilt (1764β1832), father of Cornelius.
- Phebe van Derbilt (nΓ©e Hand) (1767β1854), mother of Cornelius.
- Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794β1877), railroad and shipping tycoon.
- Sophia Johnson Vanderbilt (1795β1868), first wife of Cornelius.
- Frank Armstrong Crawford Vanderbilt (1839β1885), second wife of Cornelius.
- William Henry Vanderbilt (1821β1885), son of Cornelius.
- Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt (1821β1896), wife of William.
- Frances Lavinia Vanderbilt (1829β1868).
- George Washington Vanderbilt (1832β1836).
- George Washington Vanderbilt (1839β1863).
- Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843β1899), son of William.
- Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt (1845β1934), wife of Cornelius II.
- Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard (1845β1924), daughter of William.
- Elliott Fitch Shepard (1833β1893), husband of Margaret.
- William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849β1920), son of William.
- Anne Harriman Vanderbilt (1861β1940), second wife of William Kissam.
- Emily Thorn Vanderbilt (1852β1946), daughter of William.
- William Douglas Sloane (1844β1915), first husband of Emily.
- Frederick William Vanderbilt (1856β1938), son of William.
- Louise Vanderbilt (1854β1926), wife of Frederick.
- George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862β1914), son of William.
- William Jay Schieffelin (1866β1955), son-in-law of Margaret.
- Cornelius Vanderbilt III (1873β1942), son of Cornelius II.
- Grace Vanderbilt (1870β1953), wife of Cornelius III.
- Emily Vanderbilt Sloane (1874β1970), daughter of Emily.
- Alice Vanderbilt Morris (1874β1950), daughter of Margaret.
- Dave Hennen Morris (1872β1944), husband of Alice.
- Elliott Shepard (1876β1927), son of Margaret.
- Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt (1877β1915), son of Cornelius II (cenotaph only, body lost at sea in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania).
- Alessandro Fabbri (1877β1922), brother-in-law of Edith Shepard, daughter of Margaret.
- William Kissam Vanderbilt II (1878β1944), son of William Kissam.
- Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880β1925), millionaire, equestrian, gambler, son of Cornelius II.
- Gladys Vanderbilt SzΓ©chenyi (1886β1965), daughter of Cornelius II.
- Cornelius Vanderbilt IV (1898β1974), son of Cornelius III.
- Bayard Schieffelin (1903β1989), grandson of Margaret.
- John Hammond (1910β1987), record producer, son of Emily Sloane.
- Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. (1912β1999), society scion and racetrack/racehorse owner, son of Alfred.
- Gloria Vanderbilt (1924β2019), daughter of Reginald, wife of Wyatt Emory Cooper.
- Wyatt Emory Cooper (1927β1978), American author, screenwriter, actor, and fourth husband of Gloria Vanderbilt.
- Carter Vanderbilt Cooper (1965β1988), son of Gloria Vanderbilt and Wyatt Cooper, older brother of Anderson Cooper.
See alsoβ»
- List of United States cemeteries
- List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Staten Island
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Staten Island
Referencesβ»
- ^ Caratzas, Michael (April 12, 2016). "Vanderbilt Mausoleum, Staten Island" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
- ^ "Weekly List 2021 08 06". National Register of Historic Places (U.S. National Park Service). August 6, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ "Commission Designates Eight Backlog Sites as Official City Landmarks" (Press release). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. April 12, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
- ^ Dunlap, David W. (April 12, 2016). "Pepsi-Cola Sign in Queens Gains Landmark Status". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ Matua, Angela (April 12, 2016). "Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City is officially a New York City landmark". QNS.com. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ Dalton, Kristin F. (June 11, 2021). "Vanderbilt cemetery, mausoleum in New Dorp nominated for State and National Registers of Historic Places". silive. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ "Vanderbilt Cemetery Association, Inc". OpenCorporates. Retrieved May 27, 2022.