Woodlawn Cemetery Walking Tour: Gilded Age architecture to die for

Just minutes by subway from Manhattan you’ll discover one of New York City’s best kept secrets, Woodlawn Cemetery. On this walking tour around the National Historic Landmark, a wonderland of architectural gems from the Gilded Age, I’ll tell you about some of the cemetery’s most illustrious residents. Here, you’ll find more Tiffany stained-glass windows than anywhere else on earth, and tributes by leading sculptors and architects of the day, including John Russel Pope, who designed the Jefferson Memorial.

Starting at Woodlawn Conservancy, I’ll point out the art and sculpture inside this cemetery, along with some of the more than 390 tree species inside this magnificently landscaped arboretum. As you’ll soon find out, the cemetry’s real treasures are not the grand crypts and mausoleums, but the fascinating stories of their fabulously rich and famous residents. We’ll meet all the most memorable characters including Irene Castle, the dancer that invented every aspect of the ‘20s flapper look, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, the real-life inspiration for HBO's The Gilded Age, and Clude Fitch, Broadway’s most successful and forgotten playwright.

On this tour you'll have the opportunity to:

• Be shocked by the ”Current Wars” between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, including a botched execution in the first electric chair
• Find out about James Bailey, the orphan who ran away and joined the circus, before actually running the circus
• Take in the monument that lesbian artist, Patricia Cronin, sculpted as a bold statement in support of same-sex marriage
• Relive the sinking of the Titanic with Ida Strauss who refused the last seat in a lifeboat to stay by her husband’s side
• Bow before William Leeds (AKA the Tin Plate King) who made his fortune producing tin cans, Johnny “the Wire King” Gates whose wire fences stopped stampeding cattle, and the King of Beer Corners, George Ehret, who owned more corner saloons than anyone
• See the mausoleums for the men behind JCPenney, Macy’s and Woolworth’s

Along the way, I’ll also answer questions like:

• Who caused Olive Thomas Pickford, ”The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” to spend eternity alone?
• How were American soldiers poisoned in the revolting ”Embalmed Beef Scandal”?
• Which historic mausoleum can you move into immediately, for the bargain price of just $3.5 million?
• How did William A. Clark manage to turn everything he touched into gold?
• Why did Caroline Harbeck think her husband was a bigamist when, in actual fact, she was one?
• Where did Huguette Clark, the reclusive heiress, spend the last decades of her life playing with dolls?

Our tour of this world-famous cemetery ends in front of the crypt of Barbara Hutton. She was known as the ”Poor Little Rich Girl,” who traded her vast fortune for titles, marrying (and divorcing) seven times, five times to royals.

Give yourself two hours or go at your own pace to fully appreciate Woodlawn Cemetery. Everyone who visits leaves wowed, wondering why no one told them about it sooner. Now hear its remarkable stories brought to life with actors, sound effects, and music, including actual recordings from the era.

CREDITS: The additional voices recite actual quotes, performed by actors. And by actors we mean our dear friends and neighbors who work for beer and wine: Peter Collery, Tom Eich, Mattie Goldberg, Matt Jones, Clara Marshall, Hugh Osborn, Paul Safsel, Beth Saks, Terry Taylor, Bob Tracy, Lisa Wagner, Claudia Wallis, Josh Wallach, John Williams.