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
Details: This is the general specifications document for the mausoleum. Included is the regular preamble about the contractor’s obligations and information about the blueprints. All materials are noted as well as all the materials to be used in the construction of the mausoleum.
Size: 9” x 14”
Drawing Material: Typewritten on thin paper.
Materials Noted: Granite, marble, bronze, glass, cement, sand
Notes/Markings: The document is unsigned and undated by Green-Wood, the contractor and the owner.
Condition: Very good. The cover page of the specifications is dirty from time, but still very readable.
Details: This plan is written on the construction company letterhead. It is pencil-drawn with a few notes. The walkway is outlined at the top of the page with the mausoleum step as well as the foundation for the base of the mausoleum.
Size: 8.5” x 11”
Drawing Material: Pencil on paper.
Notes/Markings: On the bottom section of the plan is a note that reads, “this side about ½” over grass line.”
Condition: Good. The paper is rather dirty and has visible folds.
Scale: 1” = 1ft
Details: The front of the mausoleum entrance is outlined here in detail. The mausoleum is a square shape with a decorative doorway. There is a large bronze door which has two circular hoop knockers. Above this are ornamental outlines in squares, and around the edges of the door are detailed carvings that reach from the top of the door frame to the bottom. The top has decorative Roman-style garden urns flanking the family name. The name is written in block letters. The walls on either side of the doorway have two large, less decorative urns that are next to the steps up to the doorway. The roof has two smaller slabs making it up.
Size: 19.2” x 15.5”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: Bronze
Condition: Good. The blueprint is rather faded, especially along the left side, but is still readable. There are three large punch holes along the left side.
Details: This plan lays out the ground plan of the mausoleum's interior and the entrance way. The mausoleum flooring is constructed of slate and marble with crypts on either side of the main floor walk space. The back wall contains a window.
Size: 19” x 16”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: Slate, granite and brick.
Notes/Markings: The upper part of the blueprint, next to the entrance way, has a note that reads, “for cinerary urns.”
Condition: Very good. The plan is faded but very readable and clear. There is minor wear and tear around the edges and three large staple holes along the left side.
Scale: ⅜” = 1ft.
Details: This plan is the basic lot plan with the circumference of the lot outlined. The walkway from the street to the mausoleum is shown. This walkway extends to the steps leading up to the mausoleum entrance. The mausoleum is shown as a square within the circumference markings. The lot is 27.0” in diameter.
Size: 13.2” x 13.4”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Notes/Markings: The bottom of the plan has notes written in pencil.. The name “W.eatherly” is penciled inside a square and underneath is written the name “John B. Declue”.
Condition: Very good. The plan is faded and multiple folds are visible, but the plan is still very readable. There is tape on the back of the plan to strengthen the folds so they do not tear.
Details: One urn is visible outside the entry-way. The side wall is made up of three large slabs and two smaller slabs make up the roof. Ventilations areas are also noted along the top and bottom of the mausoleum.
Size: 19” x 15.5”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: Bronze.
Condition: Very good. The plan is slightly faded along the right side but still readable. There are three large staple holes along the left side of the plan.
Details: This back view of the mausoleum shows the slabs that make up the exterior walls of the mausoleum as well as the two smaller slabs for the roof. A window with a bronze grille is in the center of the rear wall.
Size: 19” x 15.5”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: Bronze
Condition: Very good. Slightly faded along the center and right side of the plan. The left side has three large punched holes in it.
Details: One urn is shown on the landing to the mausoleum. Inside are three large crypts, all with bronze rosettes and made of marble. A window is located on the rear wall.
Size: 19” x 16”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: Bronze, concrete, and marble.
Condition: Very good. There is minor wear and tear around the edges of the plan and the plan is faded, but still readable. There are three large punched holes along the left side.
Details: This section view outlines the back stained glass window as well as 6 equal-sized crypts in the inner mausoleum around the back wall and floor. The outer wall and roof is noted.
Size: 19” x 16”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: Glass, brick, slate and concrete
Condition: Very good. The plan is slightly faded but readable. There are three large punched holes along the right side.
Details: This plan outlines the entire foundation of the mausoleum. The stone and floor lines are marked out
Size: 18.5” x 15.4”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: Stone
Condition: Very good. The plan is faded on the left side with three large punched holes there too. There is also minimal wear and tear along the edges.
