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Greenridge Cemetery located in historic Saratoga Springs, New York is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian cemetery open to all. Visitors are always welcome daily dawn to dusk.
Established in 1844, with space for about 3000 graves it was not long before expansion was needed. It has expanded twice to become the largest cemetery in Saratoga Springs.
As one wanders through the beautiful, serene cemetery it is hard to believe that Broadway is only a block or so away. History is spread throughout the cemetery - as can be seen by the various gravestones, mausoleums and statues dedicated to prominent people, veterans and other notables. View or download maps showing some of the notables throughout the cemetery.
Greenridge Cemetery was established in 1844, after the older Putnam Burial Grounds and Sadler Burial Grounds became overcrowded and unsanitary. Greenridge was designed in keeping with the Rural Cemetery Movement of the 19th Century. Rural Cemeteries were designed to imitate European pleasure gardens and were frequently used recreationally--they were a place to see and be seen.
In the 1860s, complaints began to surface in the Saratogian about disrepair in the cemetery. In response, the Greenridge Cemetery Association formed in 1880, it's primary purpose being to beautify, maintain, and expand the cemetery. That same year, the association expanded the cemetery by 17 acres, creating the "New Section" of Greenridge; the section established by the city in 1844 is now known as the 'Old Section'.
Greenridge Cemetery contains some of the biggest names in Saratoga Springs' history. In fact, the town’s very first settler, Alexander Bryan, is buried there. Other big names in Greenridge include Ransom Cook, inventor of the Cook Auger and the stencil; George Sherman Batcheller, New York's youngest state legislator; Charles D. Dowd, initiator of Standard Time in the United States. The cemetery also holds the burials of 20 Native Americans of the St. Regis tribe; they lie in unmarked graves, as per their custom.
War memorials have a large presence in the cemetery, commemorating Saratogians like Private David Price who served in the 54th Regiment (depicted in the 1989 movie Glory). Private Price is now buried alongside other soldiers and veterans in the Civil War Memorial plot, which was purchased in 1901. The cemetery also houses monuments to the Spanish American War, and the World Wars.
Since its establishment, Greenridge has been non-sectarian and non-discriminatory. It contains people of diverse races, religions and social classes; there is even a section of the cemetery dedicated to indigent or homeless individuals who might not otherwise have a cemetery plot. Catholics, however, purchased plots in the consecrated Catholic section of the cemetery. Ellen Hardin Walworth, founder of the DAR and renowned Saratoga Springs resident, lies in this flat section, having been converted to Catholicism by a family member.
Today, Greenridge Cemetery is still jointly owned by the town and the Greenridge Cemetery Association (GCA); the town owns the Old Section and the GCA owns the New Section. Since the early 1980's, various documentation and restoration projects have taken place in the cemetery, ensuring the preservation of both Saratoga's history and one of its most important landmarks. Unfortunately, the cemetery has also been the victim of vandalism; in the mid-1990's, the Board of Directors reported $18,000 worth of damage over five years. The cemetery also suffers from the inevitable wear-and-tear of time; luckily, the GCA and the occasional volunteer work hard to keep the cemetery as beautifully landscaped and maintained as possible, as it was designed to be.
Since its founding in 1844, the cemetery has undergone many transformations. In the 19th-century it was both pleasure ground and cemetery, whereas today it is primarily a cemetery. Until 1880, it spanned only 5-acres, whereas today it spans about 35. It was meticulously maintained until the 1870s, slipped into disrepair during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is now well-kept again. Despite periods of change however, the cemetery has always housed the people of Saratoga--those that built the town, those that fought for the town, those that loved the town--and for that reason, it is certainly a Sacred Space within Saratoga Springs.
You can visit Greenridge Cemetery any day of the week between dawn and dusk. In the summer, the Preservation Foundation runs tours of the cemetery, and additional tours can be scheduled through the Visitor's Center. See here for additional details.
Greenridge Cemetery consists of Old Greenridge and New Greenridge cemeteries. The land occupied by the oldest portion was part of a farm owned by Mrs. Mary Avery, the widow of a Revolutionary War soldier. The cemetery opened in 1844, and (although there are many graves bearing dates prior to that as many bodies were moved in, including several American Indians) the first Saratogian buried there was Colonel William Leete Stone. The new part of the cemetery was first owned by James and Thomas Marvin; and the entire Greenridge Cemetery has operated as an Association since 1880. Some of the interesting features include a Gothic-inspired Mary L. Sackett Gateway (which marks the entrance to the Old Cemetery); a baby grand piano on the marker of Obed Coleman; a bas-relief train engine on the stone of William S. McMillan; a bronze statue, called the Hiker dedicated to the Spanish American War Veterans and a Stick style Chapel constructed in 1880. There are 15 mausoleums.
In his Saratoga County Epitaphs, Cornelius Durkee described the cemetery and his 1870 transcription thus:
This is the largest cemetery in the Town of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and is situated on the southerly side of South Street in the Village of saratoga Springs. The northeast corner of the enclosure was originally set apart for the exclusive use of the Roman Catholic element, but it proving insufficient and the lots therein being quickly taken up, a new ground was obtained and dedicated by them, lying on the southwest part of the village. The occupants of the Roman Catholic part of Green Ridge being mostly of Irish birth and not particularly identified with the history of the Village or County, no attempt has been made to gather the inscriptions to be found there, and none from that portion are inserted, except four of the Walworth family. When Green Ridge was opened as a cemetery, many removals were made from the First or "Sadler" and "Putnam" grounds into the more modern and tasteful enclosure. This fact will account for the existence of many stones in Green Ridge bearing dates long prior to the existence as a cemetery. All of the epitaphs have not been copied into the following list, those of young children having been generally omitted. With this exception the list is complete.