Staten Island, NY > Staten Island Groups & Organizations > Moravian Cemetery: it's much more than a cemetery.

Moravian Cemetery: it's much more than a cemetery.

address:2205 Richmond Road Staten Island, NY 10306 contact:Richard Simpson - Historian and tour guide for Moravian Cemetery. 718.351.0136 (ext. 7) email:

Richard L. Simpson Presents....

Walking Tours of Moravian Cemetery: A Who's Who in Staten Island History.

Thank you for visiting the official website of "Walking Tours of Moravian Cemetery." We had above average attendance for our Spring tours. We'll be in the office all summer getting ready to resume our tours in the Fall (2009). Call us anytime to arrange a private tour for your family or organization.

We can't predict the future, but we can sure tell you about the past. Our tours feature biographical information, local history, architecture and nature.

90-minute tours. Entrance fee $10. per person. Private tours for organizations and families can be arranged for other times.

All tours are by Reservation Only. Please call 718.351.0136 (ext. 7) M-F. 9a-4p.

e-mail: cemeteryguy@earthlink.net

We now accept genealogy inquiries. Our records go back to 1867.

Here's information for our tours.

Atlantic Avenue Tour - Tour 1. We’ll stroll around this beautiful Victorian section of the cemetery and visit the resting places of photographer Alice Austen, George Wm. Curtis (Curtis High School), Judge Erastus Brooks (the first person to make use of the telegraph for newspaper reports), Historian and Philanthropist Dorothy Valentine Smith, Elmer Dundy (owner of Coney Island’s Luna Park), cigar manufacturer Alvaro Garcia (Garcia & Vega), pencil manufacturer Eberhard Faber, Dr. Nathaniel Lord Britton (founder-New York Botanical Gardens), and Historian/Author Charles W. Leng. We’ll also visit a mausoleum designed by the prominent architectural firm of Carrere & Hastings, and a memorial to Civil War Hero Col. Robert Gould Shaw (1989 movie - Glory).

Central Avenue Tour - Tour 4 -We feature such residents as first Borough President George Cromwell, historian J. Clute, architect John Merven Carrere, brewery founder August Horrmann (R & H Beer), playwrite Paul Zindel, American-Indian historian Alanson Skinner, Major Clarence Barrett (a statue in his honor stands in St. George and Barrett Park is named for him) and such families as Pouch, Methfessel, Dreyfus, Braisted, Outerbridge, Errington and many, many more names you'll reconize.

Tour 2 - This tour takes us to the oldest sections of the cemetery where its residents are the early Dutch, French and English settlers of Staten Island. There grave stones dateback to the mid 1700‘s. We‘ll visit see the resting places of Rachel Dongan, wife of Thomas Dongan (Dongan Hills), Opera Impresario Max Maretzek, and Historian/ Author/Naturalist William T. Davis. We’ll see the first mausoleum built at Moravian Cemetery. It’s actually an underground vault built in 1865 by one of America’s most wealthiest families. We’ll also visit a monument which holds fossils over 450-million years old.

To make reservations call 718.351.0136 (ext7). Please call during the hours of 9a-4p. M-F.

Please inquire about our private tours for individuals and groups.

To learn about our tours and to read articles submitted by visitors, please click on the "articles" tab on the top of our homepage.

Genealogy inquiries are accepted anytime. Our records go back to 1867. To see what information can be found in our records, please click on article entitled "Researching Your Family? Here's a Good Place to Start."

While enjoying the beauty of Moravian Cemetery, please keep in mind that all visitors are expected to act in a dignified manner and to comply with the rules and regulations of the Cemetery.

Thank You.

Richard L. Simpson - Historian and Tour Guide for Moravian Cemetery.