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: Drawing is dated July 24, 1912; signature is dated October 25, 1912.
Details: “Drawn by M.T.C. Traced by M.T.C.”, “Drawn for G.S.H.”
Size: 19” x 32”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: At lower right, stamped in blue ink and signed with red pencil: “Oct 25 ’12 – W.C.G” (initials of William Grassau, Superintendent). Original signed “Design approved Donald McLean Somers Aug 28, 1912”.
Condition: Small holes along left edge from binding. Small tears along right edge and a tear or hole just inside right edge. Embrittling throughout; small tears along lower edge.
Style/Design Details: Doric style chapel design—four Doric columns with simple capitals, each of which has a corresponding triglyph above it in the frieze. Doric doorframe with family name inscribed just above the door win the stonework of the doorframe. Stonework of building elevation is heavy and rusticated. Classical pitched roof with unadorned tympanum.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: October 25, 1912.
Details: In roof cornice of original is noted: “Pat’d May 14, 1907”.
Size: 19” x 32”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: Stamped or signed by W.C. Grassau, superintendent, in red pencil, dated October 25, 1912.
Condition: Small holes along left edge from binding. Embrittled. Small tears along edges. Discoloration and wrinkling around edges on reverse.
Style/Design Details: Four courses of 2’ tall masonry blocks, with one base course slightly shorter. Nearly symmetrical side elevation, but for window at front half of building, situated to the right of center line, between base course and top course of masonry. Classical (Doric) entablature, with triglyph and metope in side elevation (8” side elevation). Plinth is one course of smooth-faced stone, below this is one heavier course of rusticated masonry. Doric columns with simple capitals at either end.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: October 25, 1912
Details: Stamped and signed.
Size: 19” x 32”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: Stamped in blue ink and dated and signed in red pencil by W.C.G.
Condition: Embrittled. Small tears along lower edge. Mottled and discolored on reverse. Small holes along left edge from binding.
Style/Design Details: Nearly identical to front elevation. Doric style Greek chapel style design. Four Doric columns at front with unadorned capitals and no base. Four corresponding triglyphs in frieze, directly above each column. Window situated at center, top same height as door at front. Doric frame around window, with family name carved above opening in frame, similar to at front elevation. Lintel below window, with smooth-faced masonry below lintel. Rusticated stone masonry in building face at either side of window. Classical pitched roof with unadorned tympanum.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: October 25, 1912.
Details: Stamped and signed.
Size: 19” x 32”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Marble, slate, granite.
Notes/Markings: Stamped in blue ink and signed in red pencil—“Oct 25 ’12 W.C.G.”
Condition: Embrittled. Small tears along lower edge. Small holes along left edge from binding.
Style/Design Details: Catacombs five high. Centrally placed window has arched window header, with cornice below this; window ledge is held by two small Tuscan columns. Two slender Tuscan columns in vestibule.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: October 25, 1912.
Details: Stamped and signed.
Size: 19” x 32”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Granite, bronze, marble, plate glass, stained glass, bronze grille.
Notes/Markings: Stamped in blue ink and signed in red pencil: “Oct 25 ’12 W.C.G.”
Condition: Embrittled, small tears along lower and right edges. Small holes along left edge from binding.
Style/Design Details: Catacombs are stacked five high, with bronze rosettes on each marble face. Side windows are a smaller scale version of same window at rear elevation, with arched window header and cornice, through without lower ledge and supporting columns. Niche spaces above front entrance and rear window indicated as 1’ thick.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: October 25, 1912.
Details: Stamped and signed.
Size: 19” x 32”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Granite, slate, marble.
Notes/Markings: Stamped in blue ink and signed in red pencil: “Oct 25 ’12 W.C.G.”
Condition: Embrittled, small tears along all edges. Small holes along left edge from binding.
Style/Design Details: Laterally symmetrical. Two walls of catacombs, generously proportioned front vestibule space and space between catacombs. Vestibule has four quarter-circle seats built into corners.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: April 13, 1913; April 25, 1913 (signed and dated twice)
Details: Composite drawing; three views.
Size: 24” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Granite.
Notes/Markings: Original signed in two places, reproduced in copy. At lower left: “Approved Donald McLean Somers – April 13, 1913”. At center right: “Revising former plan approved WCG 4/25/13”. In foundation levels are several altered/corrected dimensions noted in pencil, additional to original drawing. On reverse is noted “Somers” in pencil, and in blue pencil: “Somers 3981”.
Condition: Very poor. Severely weakened and embrittled. Numerous tears along all sides, upper right corner torn and missing. Deep vertical crease at center line, extremely wrinkled and weakened throughout. Large tears at upper edge. Reverse is discolored and mottled.
Scale: ¾” = 1’
Date: April 25, 1913
Details: Composite drawing with three views.
Size: 24” x 33”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Granite.
Notes/Markings: Signed in red pencil near upper right corner: “Revising former plan approved WCG 4/25/13”. On reverse is noted “Somers” in pencil.
Condition: Very poor. Embrittled and weakened with numerous tears and fold throughout. Numerous edge pieces torn and missing.
