New York City Marble Cemetery

The New York City Marble Cemetery was born out of a citywide panic. In the early nineteenth century, recurring outbreaks of yellow fever led residents to believe that burying the dead in traditional earthen graves was a major public health risk. To address these fears, the city eventually outlawed such burials, clearing the way for a new, sanitary alternative. By 1831, this site emerged as a solution, offering underground vaults constructed of solid, high-quality Tuckahoe marble to safely house the deceased.