By Nathalie Belkin, Lead Processor; Gabriella Carl-Johnson, Kay Menick, Sara Fetherolf, Erin Allsop, Jessica Mack, and Katie Alleman, Interns
Title: Architectural Drawings and Blueprints, c. 1880s-1990s
Predominant Dates:1910-1930s
Extent: 0.0
Subjects: A. Faranda and Son, Acea family, Agoglia family, Altar to Liberty: Minerva, Architectural Drawings, Architecture, Arnold, K.F., Arnold, N.B., Arnold family, Art nouveau (Architecture), Bahrenburg, John H., Bahrenburg family, Barclay family, Barrow, ME James T., Barrow family, Barthman family, Beaux-Arts architecture, Benisch Bros. Monumental Works, Blueprints, Bourne family, Bromell family, Brown, John W., Brown family, Buildings--Design and construction, C.E. Tayntor & Co., Cemeteries--New York (State)--New York--History, Cinerary urns, Colyer family, Cushman, Eugene, Cutting, James D.W., Cutting family, Daly, Margaret, Daly family, Davis Granite Co, Architects and Contractors, de Aldama family, DeLaCour and Ferrara, Delafield, Major Rich D., Delafield family, Dewey family, Doerschuck family, Dunne family, Egyptian revival (Architecture), Euler family, Farrington, Gould and Hoagland, Feitner, John, Felzmann family, Flagg, Ernest, Gilbert family, Goodnough family, Gothic revival (Architecture), Gould, J. R, Gould, James S., Gould family, Green-Wood Cemetery--New York, N.Y., Greve family, Griswold family, Hapgood family, Harder family, Harrison Granite Co., Havemeyer family, Heins and La Farge Architects, Higgins, Charles, Higgins family, Hillside architecture, Hoffman & Prochazka, Designers, Sculptors, and Builders, Horn, Alfred E., Horn family, Howland family, John Thatcher & Son, Kampfe family, Kenneth, W.D., Lawrence family, Lingard family, Ludlum, Emma R., Ludlum family, Martin, Robert, Martin family, Mausoleums, McAlpin family, Murdock family, Obelisks, Parish family, Parsons family, Penn Brass and Bronze Works, Pitbladdo Monumental Works, Polak family, Presbrey-Coykendall Company, Presbrey-Leland Monument Company, Renwick, Aspinwall, and Tucker, Reynolds family, Riley family, Ritzheimer family, Robinson, F. Delancey, Romanesque architecture, Rosanelli family, Ruckstull, F. W. (Fred Wellington), 1853-1942, Sands family, Sarcophagi, Sculpture and architecture, Sepulchral chapels, Sepulchral monuments, Victorian, Sepulchral monuments--New York (State)--New York, Sepulchral monuments--United States, Sepulchral monuments industry, Smallman, Thomas F., Smallman family, Somers family, Stephens, Annie W., Stephens, Benjamin F., Stephens family, Stevenson family, Stone, Gould, & Co, Designers and Builders, Sullivan, John W., Sullivan family, Texter family, Tiefel family, Tombs & sepulchral monuments, Torrio, Johnny, Torrio Family, Umberto Innocenti and Richard K. Webel, Landscape Architects, Underground architecture, Upjohn, Hobart, VanRensselaer family, Vaults (Sepulchral), W.F. Benedict & Son, W.W. Leland Co. Inc., Walsh, James F., Warren & Wetmore, Wesselman family, Wood family, Woolley family
Languages: English
The Architectural Drawings and Blueprints collection contains over 150 separate series of designs, each of which has one to around 20 individual drawings. Each series represents designs for a mausoleum or other architectural feature at Green-Wood Cemetery.
Most of the designs are for private family mausoleums, although the collection also includes blueprint materials for the historic Green-Wood chapel designed by Warren & Wetmore, alterations made to the Fifth Avenue gate, and plans for the mid-twentieth-century Columbarium. Other notable features in the collection include the Higgins mausoleum series, which contains photographs and early designs of the famous Battle Hill monument Altar to Liberty: Minerva by sculptor F. Wellington Ruxell. Many additional series may include more famous names in New York City history, such as those for the Cooper-Hewitt family and the Torrio family.
The majority of these drawings are printed on large blueprint paper, although there are a significant number of series that contain original drawings on tracing paper or drafting linen, as well as prints on Mylar, photocopy paper, or other reproduction materials. Many series also contain specifications documents—legal agreements between the architectural firm and the cemetery, which outline the plans, materials, and workman regulations for construction. In some cases, there is additional material, such as correspondence with lot owners and alternate mausoleum designs.
The collection’s dates range from the 1880s to the 1990s; the majority of the mausoleum designs were created between 1910 and 1930, at a time when it was widely popular among upper-class families to have a mausoleum or vault in which to inter their deceased relatives. Many architects of the time specialized in mausoleum design. Architectural firms that produced a large number of mausoleum designs in this collection include the Presbrey-Leland Monument Company, John Feitner Architects, and the Harrison Granite Company.
Researchers may wish to consult a specific series, which can give an interesting insight into the family in question, or they may wish to look at multiple series in the collection, in order to gain an example of the way construction and design aesthetics changed over time. The collection is a particularly valuable example of the way cemetery architecture developed in its golden years, particularly because many of the wealthiest and most prestigious New York families chose to be interred at Green-Wood.
The collection is currently stored in two locations—some material is in the Green-Wood archives, while many other blueprints are kept in the surveyor’s office of the administrative building. The container list has additional information on each item in this significant and highly variable collection, including notes on the date of designs, the architectural firm that created the drawings, and information on the size, condition, markings, and design features of each piece. All blueprint materials have been scanned and are digitally available; a preview of the image file is attached to each item. High-resolution images of each scan are available upon request.
The material is in varying condition, and embrittled drawings have been encapsulated in Mylar to ensure preservation.
The Green-Wood archives hold additional records acquired from the Presbrey-Leland Monument Company relating to Green-Wood Cemetery, and researchers may find it useful to consult this collection in conjunction with the Architectural Drawings and Blueprints.
A. Faranda and Son
Acea family
Agoglia family
Altar to Liberty: Minerva
Architectural Drawings
Architecture
Arnold, K.F.
Arnold, N.B.
Arnold family
Art nouveau (Architecture)
Bahrenburg, John H.
Bahrenburg family
Barclay family
Barrow, ME James T.
Barrow family
Barthman family
Beaux-Arts architecture
Benisch Bros. Monumental Works
Blueprints
Bourne family
Bromell family
Brown, John W.
Brown family
Buildings--Design and construction
C.E. Tayntor & Co.
Cemeteries--New York (State)--New York--History
Cinerary urns
Colyer family
Cushman, Eugene
Cutting, James D.W.
Cutting family
Daly, Margaret
Daly family
Davis Granite Co, Architects and Contractors
de Aldama family
DeLaCour and Ferrara
Delafield, Major Rich D.
Delafield family
Dewey family
Doerschuck family
Dunne family
Egyptian revival (Architecture)
Euler family
Farrington, Gould and Hoagland
Feitner, John
Felzmann family
Flagg, Ernest
Gilbert family
Goodnough family
Gothic revival (Architecture)
Gould, J. R
Gould, James S.
Gould family
Green-Wood Cemetery--New York, N.Y.
Greve family
Griswold family
Hapgood family
Harder family
Harrison Granite Co.
Havemeyer family
Heins and La Farge Architects
Higgins, Charles
Higgins family
Hillside architecture
Hoffman & Prochazka, Designers, Sculptors, and Builders
Horn, Alfred E.
Horn family
Howland family
John Thatcher & Son
Kampfe family
Kenneth, W.D.
Lawrence family
Lingard family
Ludlum, Emma R.
Ludlum family
Martin, Robert
Martin family
Mausoleums
McAlpin family
Murdock family
Obelisks
Parish family
Parsons family
Penn Brass and Bronze Works
Pitbladdo Monumental Works
Polak family
Presbrey-Coykendall Company
Presbrey-Leland Monument Company
Renwick, Aspinwall, and Tucker
Reynolds family
Riley family
Ritzheimer family
Robinson, F. Delancey
Romanesque architecture
Rosanelli family
Ruckstull, F. W. (Fred Wellington), 1853-1942
Sands family
Sarcophagi
Sculpture and architecture
Sepulchral chapels
Sepulchral monuments, Victorian
Sepulchral monuments--New York (State)--New York
Sepulchral monuments--United States
Sepulchral monuments industry
Smallman, Thomas F.
Smallman family
Somers family
Stephens, Annie W.
Stephens, Benjamin F.
Stephens family
Stevenson family
Stone, Gould, & Co, Designers and Builders
Sullivan, John W.
Sullivan family
Texter family
Tiefel family
Tombs & sepulchral monuments
Torrio, Johnny
Torrio Family
Umberto Innocenti and Richard K. Webel, Landscape Architects
Underground architecture
Upjohn, Hobart
VanRensselaer family
Vaults (Sepulchral)
W.F. Benedict & Son
W.W. Leland Co. Inc.
Walsh, James F.
Warren & Wetmore
Wesselman family
Wood family
Woolley family
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: [illegible] ‘01
Details: Handwritten title block, date is illegible. “Cottrell” is noted at lower left. Signatures of Margaret P. Daly and Eugene Cushman are reproduced at lower edge.
Size: 22” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Photo duplication on mylar of blueprint (i.e. tears, holes, etc. in blueprint are reproduced in mylar copy.)
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: None supplemental.
Condition: Reproduction bears the imperfections of the document it is copied from, but the copy itself is in good condition.
Style / Design Details: Beaux-arts style in the peaked Romanesque roofline. Classical cornice line with dentils and unadorned frieze. Two large Ionic columns with echinus and foliage detailing at the capitals are placed in front of wider pilasters. Three steps lead to the entrance, which is flanked by two scale versions of identical Ionic columns with echinus and foliage detail. Double door with two panels, each upper panel fitted with scale-shaped grille, with brass knocker between upper and lower panel of each door. Detailed scrollwork (i.e. of brass, etc.) in arched panel above door. Large Romanesque cross at roof peak.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: [illegible] ‘01
Details: Handwritten title block, date is illegible. “Cottrell” is noted at lower left. Signatures of Margaret P. Daly and Eugene Cushman are reproduced at lower edge.
Size: 22” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: On reverse in round blue stamp: “Copied by the Peerless BluePrint Co, 121 West 24th St., New York. Telephone connection.”
Condition: Embrittling and small tears along all edges. Larger tears along right edges at top, center, and toward bottom. 4” tear at center bottom edge. All tears repaired on reverse with non-archival tape.
Style / Design Details: Beaux-arts style in the peaked Romanesque roofline. Classical cornice line with dentils and unadorned frieze. Two large Ionic columns with echinus and foliage detailing at the capitals are placed in front of wider pilasters. Three steps lead to the entrance, which is flanked by two scale versions of identical Ionic columns with echinus and foliage detail. Double door with two panels, each upper panel fitted with scale-shaped grille, with brass knocker between upper and lower panel of each door. Detailed scrollwork (i.e. of brass, etc.) in arched panel above door. Large Romanesque cross at roof peak.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Details: Handwritten title block.
Size: 22” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: Stamp on reverse of the Peerless BluePrint Co. Handwritten in pencil on reverse: “Daly” and “20885”
Condition: Embrittling and tearing along all edges. Lower edge wrinkled and torn, particularly at center. Several pieces missing along upper edge and right edge. Several tears repaired on reverse with non-archival tape.
Style / Design Details: Large window with semicircular arch placed centrally at rear elevation above base courses of masonry. Ornamental grillework of interlacing scrolls above closely spaced vertical bars.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Details: Handwritten title block.
Size: 22” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: Margaret P. Daly and Eugene Cushman’s signatures appear at lower edge. Cottrell signed at lower left. Stamp on reverse of the Peerless BluePrint Co.
Condition: Embrittling and tearing along all edges. Lower edge wrinkled and torn, lower left corner particularly embrittled. Small holes along upper edge from binding. Tears repaired on reverse with non-archival tape.
Style / Design Details: Symmetrical plan. Interior space is wider than deep in floor area; window and altar at rear of building elongates the space visually.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Details: Handwritten title block.
Size: 22” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: In pencil is noted variations in dimensions of foundation—exterior edge is retraced at front and along right corner, with pencil lines indicating larger foundation. Margaret Daly and Eugene Cushman’s signatures are reproduced, along with “Cottrell” (draftsman) at lower left. Stamp on reverse of the Peerless BluePrint Co.
Condition: Embrittling and tearing along all edges. Lower edge wrinkled and warped with small sections missing. Tears at lower edge and right center repaired on reverse with non-archival tape.
Style / Design Details: Three chambers lengthwise, one crosswise. Symmetrical plan with nearly square dimensions.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Details: Handwritten title block.
Size: 22” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Concrete, “solid stone” in roof.
Notes/Markings: In pencil, foundation footings and spacings are dimensioned. Grade line is noted. Pencil notations are signed by Cottrell, also draftsman for original drawing. (Name appears at lower left of all drawings.) Stamp on reverse from the Peerless BluePrint Co. Margaret P. Daly and Eugene Cushman’s names are reproduced at lower edge.
Condition: Embrittling and tearing along all edges. Lower edge wrinkled, warped, and torn. Some tears repaired on reverse with non-archival tape. Small holes along upper edge from binding.
Style / Design Details: Ionic/Corinthian style capitals—Corinthian-style acanthus carvings above Ionic volutes. Italian Renaissance style window tracery with interlacing arches. Three chambers below floor level, which run lengthwise in building.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: [illegible] ‘01
Details: Handwritten title block, date is partially illegible.
Size: 22” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: In pencil, foundation footings and spacings are dimensioned. From left: 1’4” x 3’0”; 1’6”; 3’2”; 7’0”; 2’2”; 2’0”; 1’4” x 3’0”. Beam between central footings is noted 1’4” thick.
Condition: Embrittling and tearing along all edges. Some of the larger tears are repaired with non-archival tape. Wrinkling and wear particularly along lower edge. Holes along upper edge, large tear across top edge.
Style / Design Details: Six catacombs above floor level, one below floor level. Small interior columns with not fluting and Ionic capitals as those at exterior, flanking entrance.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: [illegible] ‘01
Details: Handwritten title block, date is partially illegible.
Size: 22” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: Margaret P. Daly and Eugene Cushman’s signatures reproduced at lower edge. Cottrell signed at lower left. Stamp on reverse of the Peerless BluePrint Co.
Condition: Embrittling and tearing along all edges. Larger tears into body of drawing near upper edge and along right side—repaired on reverse with non-archival tape. Holes along upper edge from binding.
Style / Design Details: Side elevation indicates shed roof; cross at peak of roof is nearly one foot thick. Large Ionic columns at entrance are not engaged. Side elevation consists of four courses of ashlar masonry in various heights between base courses and cornice line. Dentil detailing extends around side elevation. Five courses of roof masonry.
Date: Document text is undated. Upper edge of bound packet is dated by hand in red ink: “Dec 1901”.
Details: 10-page bound contract, typed on linen paper, specifying materials and construction techniques.
Size: 8” x 13” paper in 8.5” x 13.25” bound packet—fastened with rivets along top edge.
Drawing Materials: Typewritten on bound paper.
Materials Noted: All construction materials specified in contract.
Notes/Markings: On reverse of packet: “COPY. SPECIFICATIONS FOR DALY MAUSOLEUM to be erected in GREENWOOD CEMETERY, BROOKLYN, NY.”
Condition: Fold lines laterally across document, wear and discoloration along fold lines. Folding, discoloration, and embrittling along edges. Some smudges, i.e. from fingerprints, on first page. On page 7, in section describing floor, the text is highlighted by way of a bracket in the left margin.
