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All the United States New York State New York City Manhattan Trinity Churchyard

Trinity Churchyard

This cemetery has graves dating back to the 17th century, including the city's oldest carved tombstone and an ominous cryptogram.

New York, New York

Added By
Laetitia Barbier
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Trinity Church cementery   Adriana Tamayo/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Trinity Church cementery   Adriana Tamayo/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Gravestone at Trinity Churchyard.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Trinity Cemetery   Laetitia Barbier
Leeson’s grave, with a cryptogram.   Laetitia Barbier
Leeson’s Grave, with a cryptogram.   Laetitia Barbier
Trinity Church and cemetery.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Trinity Churchyard.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Trinity Churchyard.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Trinity Churchyard   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Trinity Churchyard   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Oldest carved gravestone in Manhattan   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Oldest carved gravestone in Manhattan.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
The grave of Alexander Hamilton.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Angelica Shuyler   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Fireman’s Brigade   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  jnthnnvk / Atlas Obscura User
Trininty Churtch Graveyard - Hamilton tombmsone in backgroumd   dfculbert / Atlas Obscura User
Adam & Eve, Astor Pillar   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  jocelynharris230 / Atlas Obscura User
Time Capsule   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Alexander Hamilton’s grave.   Michael Busch / Atlas Obscura User
  bowmancheryl / Atlas Obscura User
  cait7911 / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  karenhaum / Atlas Obscura User
Hurcules Mullian Grave; a tailor & spy, featured in the play Hamilton.   dfculbert / Atlas Obscura User
  bowmancheryl / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  cait7911 / Atlas Obscura User
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First Nations’ Memorial   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Now dwarfed by the surrounding Wall Street skyscrapers, Trinity Church was the tallest building in New York City when it was completed in 1846. The surrounding stones are even older than the church, many dating back to the 17th century.

The Trinity Churchyard in Lower Manhattan is part of the Episcopal Parish of Trinity Church, which has three burial grounds in the city including nearby St. Paul's and Trinity Cemetery in Washington Heights. While the most notable interment of Trinity Churchyard is Alexander Hamilton, the whole burial ground has a wealth of 17th- and 18th-century funerary symbolism, with plenty of flying skulls and hourglasses. For example, there's the two-sided tombstone of Richard Churcher, a five-year-old boy who died in 1681. His tombstone is the oldest carved gravestone in the city, and on the back has a dimensional hourglass and skull and bones. 

James Leeson also has a very unusual stone. The 18th-century gentleman requested that along with classical Masonic markings and funeral iconography, his tombstone be marked with an insoluble message. 

The bizarre-looking words are written in a "pigpen" cipher, sometimes used by Masons to code their text and keep their knowledge out of the hands of the curious. The symbols actually mean "Remember Death," a classic message for the 18th century which becomes, through the form of an enigma, a version of the well-known "Memento Mori."

Another unusual grave in Trinity Churchyard is a simple stone slab engraved with the name "Charlotte Temple." Charlotte was not a real person, but rather the protagonist of the 1791 book Charlotte, A Tale of Truth, which was the best-selling novel in America for half a century.

Related Tags

Masons Churches Cemeteries Memento Mori Catacombs And Crypts

Know Before You Go

James Leeson's grave is on the Broadway side of the cemetery, facing the fence. The cemetery has two sides, he's not on the portion with Alexander Hamilton's grave. All the graves on that side are fenced in, his grave is near the Monument to the Soldier.

Charlotte Temple's grave is also located in the north churchyard.

Community Contributors

Added By

Laetitia Barbier

Edited By

Molly McBride Jacobson, SEANETTA, nathanlouis1, karenhaum...

  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • SEANETTA
  • nathanlouis1
  • karenhaum
  • Allison
  • bowmancheryl
  • Michael Busch
  • cait7911
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • dfculbert
  • jnthnnvk
  • jocelynharris230

Published

June 25, 2013

Updated

February 11, 2025

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Sources
  • https://www.trinitywallstreet.org/about/trinitychurch
  • https://www.trinitywallstreet.org/sites/default/files/pictures/Trinity%20Church%20Walking%20Tour.pdf
Trinity Churchyard
75 Broadway
New York, New York, 10006
United States
40.708277, -74.012757
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