Literary Cemeteries To Visit In Upstate NY

Are you a writer or reader that enjoys visiting graves  related to your favorite authors? It's a nice way to bring yourself closer to them. If you live in upstate NY, then you can visit the cemeteries connected to a few of the most famous authors of all time:

Mark Twain in Elmira, NY

Mark Twain, famous for his stories on the Mississippi River, took up residence in Elmira, NY after his marriage. If you visit Elmira, you can go to his study that was built specifically for him to write in. To visit Twain's grave, visit Woodlawn Cemetery. There are markers along the paths that lead you to his gravesite.

Remember, you're looking for the grave marker for Samuel Clemens, Twain's real name. The most notable marker is that of Twain's daughter Suzy. The inscriptions bears a poem Twain adapted just for her.

Sleepy Hollow

Washington Irving wrote the creepy tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman that takes place in Sleepy Hollow. You can visit many of the locations of the story when you visit Tarrytown, NY. Make sure to stop at the burying ground of the Old Dutch Church where the Headless Horseman haunted.

It is believed that Irving found inspiration for his characters from some of the people buried there. Across the way is the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery where you can take a guided tour to learn more about the area and it's history.

John Burroughs

John Burroughs lived and wrote in a cabin in Roxbury, NY. You can visit the cabin and explore the woods he loved so much. Admission is free so take a walk and enjoy the areas beloved to Burroughs and that he wrote about in his books. There's no need for hunting through a cemetery or taking a tour of a cemetery to find his grave. Burroughs was buried near his home. There is a path marked out to his grave and even a place for you to sit near him.

'It's a Wonderful Life'

The Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life" was based on a short story about a small town and the people in it. Frank Capra adapted the story into the screenplay that everyone knows today. He took inspiration for the town of Bedford Falls from Seneca Falls, NY. You can take a walking tour of the town and see many of the locations that look exactly like places in the film. You can even visit the old cemetery that has plenty of familiar names like the characters in the story.

For some, cemetery tours are creepy. For readers and writers, they are a great way to feel closer to authors and stories.