A few miles from my house is Hartsdale, NY. It's not technically my town, but within my normal orbit of operations, so I'm counting it, and Hartsdale boasts the nation's oldest and largest pet cemetery. All the images posted here are ones I took myself yesterday. (Click to enlarge.) Pardon any formatting weirdness. With this many photos, Blogger burps.
In 1896, a prominent NYC vet, Dr. Samuel Johnson, offered his apple orchard in then-rural Hartsdale to serve as a burial plot for a bereaved friend's dog. From this single act of sympathy, the site grew and now is the resting place
for almost 70,000 pets. 
The park is run by the descendants of the family that founded it, which included relatives of famous designers and sculptors such as Robert Caterson, who was chosen to do its WWI War Dog Memorial. I don't know how I managed to miss a picture of that, but above I snapped the memorial of Tanne, a seeing eye companion, and Skippy, a fire hero.
The monuments come in all sizes and expressions of grandeur. The arch above for Pekoe and Lady Lu provides one of the landmarks of the park, as well as the practically human-sized monument to Toodles Walsh . The monuments span the eras and even the small ones are full of personality. Sometimes, the pet names are the best part, and many have mounted photos or elaborate etchings. There are so many more examples of creative commemorations then I'm even showing, and the place is full of flowers. Whether placed by the families or planted by the park's staff, this place is blooming and green. And they're not species snobs here. Look for two examples of other honorees, occupying the "peaceable kingdom" among the dogs and cats.
I've collected the facts from the cemetery's well-developed website, which has tons more links/images of notoriety and interest (seriously!) as well as a slide-show tour. I've always been a fan of graveyards, finding them fascinating and lovely, and this one struck me as a faintly goofy but extremely sweet place.
However, concerning this last one, may I add my hopes that the family are breeders, or that these names all belong to goldfish?
Monday, April 14, 2008
My Town Monday: Peternity
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17 comments:
Oh my! What a wonderful homage. I don't know if I could go through there...I'd probably bawl my eyes out. I'm a total sap where animals are concerned. I even cry at the ASPCA commercials. Thanks for sharing. Very touching.
I have also found graveyards to be a fascinating look at local history.
We make funeral urns, both for pets and for people, so it doesn't surprise me that folks choose to remember their pets in the way you have shared. Thanks for a nice post.
Cemeteries have their own fascination and the ones geared to pets that much more so.
We have similar cemetaries here in England - very interesting post Thank you
But...are the goldfish buried there or are they flushed away? Hmmmm..please elaborate. I would hate to bury my goldfish and while I am digging away, churning up the earth for my newest victim to gold fish gluttony, find the last victim, staring through hollow eyes...
Just a thought.
Great post. I've always been fascinated with death and graveyards.
Thanks for sharing!
~C
Was the basis or setting of Stephen King's story?
So what's with all the buried food? Souffle, Muffin, Skippy, Spuds, Sprouts? I mean, I've had some baking disasters, but I don't usually memorialize them...
It's funny, I very often end up living very close to cemeteries for some reason. Just a strange coincidence. But I do love them. They have such a beauty and peace about them and so much history. I have visited many in my travels around the world. Thanks for lovely post.
I'd have expected this cemetery to be in nearby Valhalla.
Why is it we get so sappy over animals? I tell you I can't buy anything but free range eggs, don't eat meat, and weep during Thirteen's Nature programs. We do bury our pets, but have not yet paid for a plot or gravestone.
Lois-
I think part of it is that animals are so innocent. I don't mean that they don't do destructive and/or annoying things, and that many don't live off the deaths of other ones. What I mean is that they're always perfectly themselves, no apologies or evasions, always completely dogly or catly or birdly or ratly. And humans with our differing faces for different places and subtexts and dissembling can envy the apparent simplicity of such forthright, earnest self-possession. At least I do.
Besides, lots of them are elegant or interesting or cute. I forget who said: we love them for their bodies.
Clare, what a lovely post! The Bag lady is very tender-hearted when it comes to her pets, and has both her favourite dogs buried in the back yard. She even made markers for them - dog bones carved out of wood.
Unfortunately, the sight of the markers makes her cry every time she mows the lawn, so perhaps it wasn't the best idea........
Dear tender-hearted Bag Lady-
I sure hope you don't have an electric mower.
Clare! Too funny! No, it's a ride-on mower, so there's always a funny little drunken glitch in the track there, where the Bag Lady is wiping her eyes on her sleeve.... Not that the Bag Lady drinks when she's mowing the lawn, you understand....well, only on the hot days...why else would there be a cup-holder on the lawn mower...and, sheesh, it takes 3 hours to mow the damned lawn. You'd need a beer, too!!!
I've never seen a pet cemetary before (if you don't count the Stephen King flick). What an interesting post.
I'm with you--I sure hope that last pic was all fish. Or maybe some type of animal farm?
Bag Lady- I choose my equipment with engines based on the location and quantity of cupholders, too.
Britta- Some of these headstones are decades old and have been added and added to (with dates). I forgot to post the wonderful one that showed 20 years of Yum Yums from I to IV, ranging from 1963 to 2007. Perhaps this one shows a century of pampered and pedigreed hamsters.
Oops. I meant 40 years of Yum Yums.
What a great post. I sincerely hope that last one is a breeder, or maybe a family/generational plot and the original headstone just got replaced as it was too small.
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