Green-Wood Cemetery – Obelisk of the Nameless

New York · United States · Cemetery

Beneath a granite obelisk inside the gate lie 103 nameless victims of the 1876 Brooklyn Theatre fire in a common grave – on the December anniversary, shadows are said to gather at the stone.

Green-Wood, consecrated in 1838, was New York's premier excursion spot before Central Park existed – a romantic park of the dead overlooking the harbor. But just inside the main gate stands a monument to the city's worst theatre disaster: when the Brooklyn Theatre caught fire on December 5, 1876 during a performance of The Two Orphans, nearly 300 people died, many trapped in the cheap gallery seats. 103 could never be identified and were lowered together into a common grave beneath the granite obelisk. Around the December anniversary, visitors describe shadows moving about the monument at dusk and a smell of smoke without fire. Among the cemetery's half-million graves also rest gangster Bill "the Butcher" Poole and soda-fountain king John Matthews beneath his gaping Gothic canopy – and night watchmen over the years have preferred switching rounds to passing the obelisk alone.

FAQ

Where is Green-Wood Cemetery – Obelisk of the Nameless located?

Green-Wood Cemetery – Obelisk of the Nameless is in New York, United States.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: The original uploader was David Shankbone at English Wikipedia . · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons