Road Trip-New York and New Jersey

abamerica1776
May 8, 2021
6 min read

Updated: May 16, 2021

*Due to corona restrictions, please check sites of interest before visiting.

Similar to Virginia, New York has a lot to offer and see when touring presidential sites, but unlike Virginia, you’ll spend more time driving as the sites are spread out across the state. As a bonus, New Jersey, the location of Grover Cleveland’s gravesite, is worth the time and effort since it’s nearby. In addition to visiting six president gravesites, you can visit four vice-president gravesites. To visit them all will take a few days so as not to run yourself into the ground from all the driving you’ll have to do. And have loose change as you’ll likely be using toll roads.

Beginning in New York City, you can visit the General Grant National Memorial at Riverside Park, near Columbia University. Transportation options are many. You can drive but parking may be an issue so check for free parking or parking garages/lots before trekking to this site. A subway stop is nearby, as well, along with a bus stop. And, taxis, Ubers, and Lyfts are always options. Admission to the site is free but check the website for hours. The Visitor Center is a good place to start, use the rest room, refill a water bottle, and get your bearings while taking in some historic photographs of the memorial’s construction. Before heading inside the memorial, take your time to study the memorial’s exterior, the pavilion overlook, and broad plaza. Behind the memorial you’ll find a marker identifying the location of the temporary vault that held Grant’s remains for 12 years. Inside the memorial, you’ll be overwhelmed at first (at least I was) so take your time strolling through its cavernous interior and be sure to take lots of pictures; lighting can be an issue so check if a flash can be used to save yourself the ire of a park ranger. Make sure you take the stairs down the crypt to take some pictures of the Grant sarcophagi and the statue busts. Everything outside and inside this memorial is a larger-than-life scale so enjoy it and make the most of your time. Before leaving the metropolis, consider visiting the gravesite of Daniel Tompkins, 6th vice president under James Monroe. He can be found at Saint Marks Church-In-The-Bowery Churchyard. His grave, an in-ground marker, is next to a large bell so it should be easy to find. And, if you want to go the extra mile and visit where James Monroe spent 27 years at rest in New York City following his death in 1831, you’ll need to head to New York City Marble Cemetery, on 2nd St., between 2nd and 1st Avenues. (There is another cemetery with a similar name-New York Marble Cemetery so avoid it.) You’ll likely not be able to enter the grounds but check the website to find out more information. At the very least, you can grab a picture of the entrance.

Near by-well, over an hour-is Young’s Memorial Cemetery, site of Theodore Roosevelt’s grave. Driving there will have its issues but its freedoms as well; my wife and I took a train, and we had no issues getting to the cemetery from the train station in Oyster Bay save for a 20-min walk. Not too far from Young’s Memorial Cemetery is Sagamore Hill, home of Theodore Roosevelt. Admission is required but check the website to avoid a surprise at the ticket window. Tickets can sell out by noon so plan ahead. Parking is free.

Time: 2hrs+, home and grounds

South of New York City you can visit Princeton and pay a visit to Princeton Cemetery and see Grover Cleveland’s grave site. It’s a simple/average memorial so the visit will be short, but nearby is the grave of Aaron Burr, 3rd vice president under Jefferson. Aside from these two graves, there’s not much else in Princeton or the cemetery concerning presidents. For an added bonus, west of Manhattan in Paterson, New Jersey is Cedar Lawn Cemetery, where you can see vice-president Garret Hobart’s gravesite, 24th vice president under William McKinley. It’s a large mausoleum and should be easy to find if you give yourself enough time.

If interested, about 35 minutes north of New York City is Sleepy Hollow, the burial site of Nelson Rockefeller, 41st vice-president under Gerald Ford. He can be found at the Rockefeller Family Cemetery. It is a private cemetery so you won't be able to take a picture of his gravesite unless you trespass or get permission.

North of New York City is where you’ll find three more president sites, beginning in Hyde Park is where you’ll find the home of Franklin Roosevelt, Springwood, where you’ll also find his gravesite. His home is on the grounds of his namesake Museum and Library, which I recommend so count on spending a couple of hours. Springwood can be toured (NPS site), so check the website for more details. Do keep in mind you can tour the home and the museum/library for a combined ticket fee. As for the gravesite, there isn’t much to it but it’s certainly worth taking lots of pictures, especially if the rose garden has blooms.

If interested, 40 minutes or north of Hyde Park is Kingston, the burial site of George Clinton, 4th vice-president under James Madison. He can be found at Old Dutch Churchyard. And, east of Kingston, across the Hudson River, in Rhineback, is the gravesite of Levi Morton, 22nd vice-president under Benjamin Harrison. He can be found at Rhineback Cemetery. Plan on around 20 mins to get from Kingston to Rhineback.

If you go to Kingston, your next stop continuing north is the home of Martin Van Buren, Lindenwald (NPS site). It’s a beautiful home worth touring, it’s free, and there’s parking. It’s a can’t miss. A few miles up the road is Kinderhook Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery, where you can visit Van Buren’s gravesite. It’s an obelisk and the visit will be short. Do keep in mind if you choose to stop in Kingston, the drive to Kinderhook will take an hour due to the Hudson River extending the drive as you have to cross back over it no matter which route you take. If you don’t stop at Kingston, the drive from Hyde Park to Kinderhook will take a little over an hour and you'll be east of the Hudson River.

Time for Lindenwald: 2hrs, home and grounds

Continuing north from Kinderhook, around 30-40 mins, will bring you to Albany Rural Cemetery, site of Chester Arthur’s grave. The cemetery is large so take your time driving through it to locate his gravesite, identified for the American flag. His gravesite won’t take long to visit but it’s one of the more interesting among his cronies.

Continuing to head north of Albany will bring you to Wilton, where you can visit Grant Cottage, the home where Ulysses S. Grant spent his final days and died. Admission is required and tickets can be bought online. The tour is brief, at 30 mins, so you should be able to tie this visit in with other presidential sites during the day.

Time: 1hr+, home and grounds

At this point, you can head make a decision to head north to Malone, around three hours, to see the gravesite of William Wheeler, 19th vice president under Rutherford Hayes, at Morningside Cemetery, and then south for three hours to Utica to visit the gravesite of James Sherman, 27th vice president under William Taft, at Forest Hill Cemetery and then onto Buffalo for the final visit or, to save time and money, just head for Buffalo. Depending on where you jump off to head to Buffalo, count on a 5 hour or more drive. Once in Buffalo, you’ll aim for Forest Lawn Cemetery to visit Millard Fillmore’s gravesite. This cemetery is worth the visit and has a lot of beautiful grave sites to see and to take pictures of. Fillmore’s gravesite is easy to locate courtesy of the American flag. It’s in an enclosure that can be entered and has gravesites of other family members. His obelisk is in the middle, surrounded by bushes, and his headstone is easy to find. Parking is available by the gravesite. Check the cemetery website for hours as well as to learn about other notable gravesites. Take your time and enjoy this beautiful cemetery.

Sites of Interest:

General Grant National Monument-https://www.nps.gov/gegr/index.htm

Grant Cottage-https://www.grantcottage.org

Princeton Cemetery-http://nassauchurch.org/about/princetoncemetery/visit/

Cedar Lawn Cemetery-(no website) https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/99919/cedar-lawn-cemetery

Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum-https://www.fdrlibrary.org

Springwood-https://www.nps.gov/places/springwood.htm

Young’s Memorial Cemetery-http://trgravesite.org/cemetery.html

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site-https://www.nps.gov/sahi/index.htm

Lindenwald-https://www.nps.gov/mava/index.htm

Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery-(no website) https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/406606/kinderhook-reformed-church-cemetery

Albany Rural Cemetery-https://www.albanyruralcemetery.org