Surveyor's Books, 1938-1939 | The Green-Wood Cemetery

The collection is comprised of 24 handwritten and -drawn volumes recorded by Green-Wood Cemetery's surveyor in September 1938 through November 1939. The contents of the bound books are pencil drawings and notes outlining the location of graves in each lot within the sections of the cemetery at that time. Though some lots were skipped, the books encompass more than half of the cemetery as it existed in 1938-39. Today they represent approximately 25 percent of the cemetery's lots. The drawings often include measurements, geographical locations (streets, landmarks), and cardinal points; some indicate the location of gravestones. For many lots this is the only written record of this information. Each sketch is dated and labeled with lot and section numbers. Some pages include multiple drawings (up to four), while other drawings stretch across two pages. Throughout all volumes there are notes and indexes that were added later. Lot owners' surnames have been added to some drawings. The books are calfskin(?)-bound Standard Memorandum Books produced by Standard B&P, as indicated by a stamp on an endpaper. They measure 7 3/8"x4 3/4" with 96 leaves of lined paper.

Today these books are used by Green-Wood's surveyor and others when they need information on the location of specific lots and graves and to calculate how much space remains in each lot. The methodology of these records was unique; between 1939 and the present surveyor's tenure similar information was recorded and kept in specific lots' files. The books' value was underestimated until recently, when the current surveyor saved them from being discarded.

Condition: The volumes vary in condition. The covers of most are worn, especially at the spine and corners. Some bindings are loose, but all are still intact. The pages are mostly in very good condition, with some corners missing, and yellowing overall.