Sleepy Hollow Things to Do

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The Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is the resting place of many people, including Washington Irving, Andrew Carnegie, Samuel Gompers and Elizabeth Arden. As cemetery's go, it is a lovely, peaceful place. The rear section is tree covered and bounded by the Pocantico River.

There are usually locals out by the gates selling maps if you haven't picked one up by the time you get there. The map will guide you to the graves of some of the more famous residents.

Cemetery Gates are open M-F 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM and 8:30 am to 4:30 PM on weekends.

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The Sleepy Hollow Cementary is a great place to start your experience here in Sleepy Hollow. Many famous people are buried here including Washington Irving (the author of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow), Andrew Carnegie, William Rockefeller, Elizabeth Arden, Walter Perry Chrysler, just to name a few.

Although the cementary is a historical site, it is still an active cementary with burial plots and mousaleums available, so you will find that on occassion there will be family members visiting the cementary of their loved ones. The cementary offers a guided tour for a fee of $5 whether you decided on the day or evening, or your can do the tour om your own.

There are many beautiful mousaleums and headstones of other non famous individuals with plenty of places to rest. Ferni and I recently spent a nice afternoon wandering the cementary, viewing the different graves and mousaleums.

The cementary is connected to the Old Church Burying Ground and there is no clear marker indicating where one starts and the other begins.

Operating hours are Mon-Fri from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM; Sat and Sun from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Please note that grave rubbings are absolutely prohibited and is indicated with signs posted all over the cementary.

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Ichabod Crane sought refuge in the burying ground and met up with the Headless Horseman. For the rest of us, the Old Dutch Church and the adjoining cemetery are a historic link to the past. Many of the original townspeople were buried there before the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery came about.

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Washington Irving wanted a romantic home along the river where he could relax and write. His choice was Sunnyside. Located right along the Hudson River, this bright little house was just what he wanted. There were wonderful views over the river from many of the rooms in the house and the veranda area was as peaceful a place as you could find.

Take a walk around the grounds, then take a guided tour through the house to see where this great writer found his inspiration.

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I don't remember much about the church other than there is a great pulpit in the front and an absolutely huge pipe organ at the back. This is where we met up with the old guy that gave us the tour of the cemetery.

This cemetery is connected to the Sleepy Hollow cemetery. It really is a treasure to see. If you are lucky, one of the tour guides will be here to show you around. When we were here there was this eclectic old guy who took us around the plots and showed us the real people from the Washington Irving story, The Tale of Ichabod Crane (The Headless Horseman). Little P knew most of the story which really impressed the old guy.

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I love the darker side of life and that includes cemeteries. Patrick and Trish always raved about how cool the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery was. Patrick even tells the story of how Trish scared him by knocking on one of the crypt doors. When we went to visit Lyndhurst, Trish made sure we stopped here. I was really impressed with all the monuments and crypts. Some of the stone statues were just fantastic. If you like to do grave rubbings, be prepared, there are signs up all over telling you its a big no, no. So for all of you rule followers, forget it. Make sure you stop at the entrance and get a map. I wanted to see the headless horseman bride so we decided to drive to it, not walk it. Patrick got scared when we drove over it. I couldn't stop laughing.

Patrick and I stumbled across Patriot's Park during our first visit to Sleepy Hollow back in 2006. It wasn't until this last visit that we became aware of the historical significance of the park. It turns out that the park marks the spot where Major Andre, a spy, was captured and strip searched. Lo and behold the American Revolutionists uncovered in Major Andre's sock, Benedict Arnolds stolen information about West Point. Major Andre was later hung for his activities in this park. This park is also rumored to be the first place where Ichabod Crane saw The Headless Horseman.

The park itself is relatively small, with a few walkway, a small play ground structure for the kids and a fountain. At least I think it was a fountain. Patrick had a great time running around with some of the other children. There is no bathroom here, so make sure no one has to go before you settle in for some play time. I don't remember there being any picnic tables either.