Photos: Gravesend Cemetery Tour

Gravesend historian Joseph Ditta led a morbid mass of miscreants amongst the decayed and dismembered tombstones of the Gravesend Cemetery last Sunday.

It. Was. Awesome.

I wish I had more to report, but this was an event I went to enjoy, not to work. I took no notes and even pawned off camera duty on some very excellent readers.

Ditta’s knowledgeable narration was captivating and humorous. His choice of stories to explore split between those names – Moody, Stryker, Ryder, Voorhees and more – that have shaped our neighborhood; but also focused on those humorous or twisted anecdotes that the crowd really came to hear: the poisonings, murder-suicides, a Coney Island carny’s freak-show funeral, and the first techie-inspired burial (which enlisted a phonograph to play a service in lieu of a preacher; the man behind this particular act would cause a steampunk girl’s… ahem… nocturnal emission).

I’d also like to add that the cemetery, which I’ve waited a long time to visit, is much larger once you’re in it than it initially appears from the corner of Village Road South and Van Sicklen Street.

Without further ado, enjoy the below photo gallery from the Gravesend Cemetery tour. Many thanks to Janelle Fox, Elana Orenbuch, Lisanne Anderson and Jobana Soto. And, of course, Joe Ditta for the great opportunity. Next time, how ’bout a midnight moonlit tour?