Tour the Historic Jersey City and Harismus Cemetery

Tour the Historic Jersey City and Harismus Cemetery

Photos by Mandy Edgecombe

Join Mandy Edgecombe, licensed Untapped New York guide and trustee of Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, as she take us on a tour of this early American cemetery.

  • Tour the six acre landscape tucked into a canyon in the middle of the bustling city.
  • Discover the graves of notable figures of Jersey City and American history
  • Peek inside the vaulted tomb, older than the cemetery and still housing munitions from the War of 1812 and the skeleton of a Vienese count!
  • Learn about railroad history and hear freight and passenger trains pass by during the tour
  • Hear about the current state of cultural affairs at the cemetery. There’s often live music happening there, including a halloween concert coming soon!

About the event:

The Jersey City and Harsimus cemetery is a perfect example of an early American cemetery of the transitional period between colonial graveyards and large garden style cemeteries like Greenwood cemetery. Incorporated in 1831, seven years before Greenwood, it holds garden-style cemetery features common with the Rural Cemetery Movement such as a well manicured landscape and family plots with larger monuments, but also indivdual brownstone grave markers more indicative of colonial graveyards.

It was saved from abandonment and disrepair in 2008 and founding director,  Eileen Markenstein,  turned it into a hub for cultural and community events that occur year round! Join us to learn more about the history of the cemetery and Jersey City while enjoying the gorgeous six acre landscape tucked into a canyon in the middle of the bustling city.

Ready to join this event?
Ready to join this event?
Ready to join this event?
Comments are closed.