St. John's Burying Ground

You are walking toward what is today known as James J. Walker Park, but beneath the ball fields and playgrounds lies the forgotten site of St. John's Burying Ground. Established in the early nineteenth century by Trinity Church, this plot served as a final resting place for roughly ten thousand people. While some prominent New Yorkers were interred here, it was primarily a cemetery for the city's poor, many of whom were children buried in unmarked graves. As the city grew around the grounds, the pressure to develop the land became irresistible to local officials.