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# The Hidden Cemetery In Prospect Park
- URL: https://bklyner.com/the-hidden-cemetery-in-prospect-park-ditmas-park/
- Published: 2015-08-14T15:00:15.000Z
- Updated: 2015-08-14T19:40:58.000Z
- Author: Shannon Geis
- Tags: cemetery, Friends Cemetery, Quaker, Quakers, #API-Imported

![Photo by Shannon Geis / Park Slope Stoop](http://parkslopestoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/friends-sign-702x481.jpeg)

Photo by Shannon Geis / Park Slope Stoop

Did you know that roughly 2,000 people are buried in [Prospect Park](https://www.prospectpark.org/get-involved/survey/?ref=bklyner.com)? If you head down West Drive, just past the 15th Street entrance to Center Drive, you will see the entrance to a private cemetery that has been there since before the park was built. But if you aren’t looking for it, it’s easy to miss.

![map of friends cemetery in prospect park](http://southslopenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/pss_friendscemetery_map-702x533.png)

Map via [New York Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends](http://www.nyqm.org/docs/cemeterymap.pdf?ref=bklyner.com)

[The Friends Cemetery](http://www.nyqm.org/cemetery/friendscemetery.html?ref=bklyner.com) was established in 1849 by the [Religious Society of Friends](http://www.brooklynmeeting.org/?ref=bklyner.com) (also known as Quakers), on what was then undeveloped farmland — this was 18 years before Prospect Park opened. However, burials had probably been conducted at the location since the 1820s.

![Friends Cemetery in Prospect Park. Photo by Shannon Geis / Park Slope Stoop](http://parkslopestoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/friends-cemetery-view-through-gate-702x465.jpeg)

Friends Cemetery in Prospect Park (Photo by Shannon Geis / Park Slope Stoop)

Many of the oldest graves in the site aren’t marked, as [Atlas Obscura notes](http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/friends-quaker-cemetery?ref=bklyner.com) — early Quakers thought gravestones were [a sign of vanity](http://fum.org/ask-tom-january-february-2014/?ref=bklyner.com). That feeling still prevails a bit, and recent markers are quite plain.

![Sign inside the gate of Friends Cemetery in Prospect Park. Photo by Shannon Geis / Park Slope Stoop](http://parkslopestoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/peace-sign-702x484.jpeg)

Sign inside the gate of Friends Cemetery in Prospect Park. (Photo by Shannon Geis / Park Slope Stoop)

Some famous permanent residents of the 10-acre cemetery include a former Brooklyn Borough President, [Raymond Ingersoll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond%5FIngersoll?ref=bklyner.com), who served in that position from 1934 to 1940; and [Mary McDowell](http://marymcdowell.org/live/who-is-mary-mcdowell/?ref=bklyner.com), a school teacher who caused waves in 1918 when she “refused to sign a loyalty oath in support of World War I because it conflicted with her Quaker principles,” [according to a Quaker school](http://marymcdowell.org/live/who-is-mary-mcdowell/?ref=bklyner.com) named in her honor.

The most notable person here, though, is the actor [Montgomery Clift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery%5FClift?ref=bklyner.com), who died of a heart attack at age 45 in 1966\. A member of the Religious Society of Friends’ historical committee told the [Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-quakers-perform-play-prospect-park-cemetery-article-1.295719?ref=bklyner.com) he was interred here because of his Quaker mother — and, because [his family has asked](http://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/27/nyregion/neighborhood-report-prospect-park-park-slope-he-s-here-for-eternity-but-don-t.html?ref=bklyner.com), those who oversee the cemetery won’t reveal which grave is his.

![View through the surrounding fence. Photo by Shannon Geis / Park Slope Stoop](http://parkslopestoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/friends-cemetery-through-the-fence-702x458.jpeg)

View through the surrounding fence. (Photo by Shannon Geis / Park Slope Stoop)

To celebrate the Friends’ 150th anniversary — and in an effort to spread some info to the public about the religious group — [Quakers put on a play](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-quakers-perform-play-prospect-park-cemetery-article-1.295719?ref=bklyner.com) inside the cemetery in 2008.

But that was one of the rare times the general public could set foot inside the fenced-off site, which is still an active cemetery for Quakers. And for most visitors to the park, it remains a secret to be stumbled upon.

*Editor’s note: This post has been corrected to meet our standards of attribution.*