View source for Forest Park Cemetery (Brunswick, New York)

{{Infobox Cemetery
|name        = Forest Park Cemetery
|image       = ForestParkEntrance.JPG
|imagesize   = 250px
|caption     = Entrance gate to Forest Park Cemetery
|established = 1897
|country     = [[United States]]
|location    = [[Brunswick, New York|Brunswick]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
|coordinates = {{coord|42|43|2.12|N|73|38|10.33|W|region:US|display=inline,title}}
|type        = Private
| findagraveid = 64567
|owner       = Town of Brunswick
|size        = {{Convert|22|acres|ha}}
|graves      = 1400 (estimate)<ref name=TU>{{cite news |title=Brunswick Giving Forest Park Cemetery New Life |last=Eager |first=Bill |publisher=[[Times Union (Albany)]] |url=http://archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5596934 |date=1991-03-31 |page=C3 |accessdate=2009-06-19 }}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
}}
'''Forest Park Cemetery''', also known colloquially as '''Pinewoods Cemetery''' due to its location at 387 Pinewoods Avenue, is an abandoned [[cemetery]], located in [[Brunswick, New York]], [[United States]] just east of the city of [[Troy, New York|Troy]]. It is famous for the numerous [[urban legend]]s regarding [[ghost]]s.

==History==

Forest Park Cemetery was first incorporated in 1897 by a group of wealthy Troy businessmen under the Forest Park Cemetery Corporation,<ref name = Zankel/> though based on older [[gravestone]]s, the cemetery had apparently been in use since at least 1856.<ref name = TU/> The original area chosen for the cemetery occupied over {{Convert|200|acre|ha}} of farmland in what was then rural Brunswick. Meant to outgrow and even outclass Troy's [[Oakwood Cemetery (Troy, New York)|Oakwood Cemetery]], it was originally designed by [[Garnet Baltimore]],<ref name=Zankel>{{cite web |title=Garnet Douglass Baltimore Also a Part of Brunswick's History |page=7 |work=Brunswick Town Newsletter |publisher=[[Brunswick, New York|Town of Brunswick]] |last=Zankel |first=Sharon |url=http://www.townofbrunswick.org/documents/fall2005Newsletter.pdf |year=2005 |accessdate=2009-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609081807/http://www.townofbrunswick.org/documents/fall2005Newsletter.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name = RPI/> the first African-American graduate of [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]].<ref name=RPI>{{cite web |title=Honoring a son of Troy |publisher=[[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]] |year=2005 |work= Rensselaer Magazine |url=http://www.rpi.edu/dept/metasite/news/magazine/winter2005-06/pdf/28-33.pdf |accessdate=2009-06-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121184406/http://www.rpi.edu/dept/metasite/news/magazine/winter2005-06/pdf/28-33.pdf |archivedate=2008-11-21 }}</ref> Baltimore planned on the cemetery to offer visitors a park-like experience, complete with statuary, winding trails, and a large receiving tomb near the entrance.<ref name = Zankel/>

The Forest Park Cemetery Corporation went bankrupt in 1914 and the cemetery was never completed to the original plans.<ref name = Zankel /> The only structure that had been built was the receiving tomb, which still stands today, albeit in a dilapidated state. The receiving tomb was built from granite and featured a copper roof with a large skylight and contained 128 marble [[catacomb]]s used for storing [[corpse]]s during the winter.<ref name=uhls>{{cite web |title=I Spy My Hometown: Forest Park Cemetery |publisher= Upper Hudson Library System|url=http://uhls.org/ISpy/brun/brun-forest.html |accessdate=2009-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402034652/http://uhls.org/ISpy/brun/brun-forest.html |archive-date=2009-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1914 the cemetery was re-incorporated by [[New York City]] natives under the name Forest Hills Cemetery.<ref name =uhls/> Due to financial difficulty, the corporation sold all but {{Convert|22|acres|ha}} to the neighboring County Club of Troy, for use in the construction of its [[golf course]]. Regardless, the corporation also went bankrupt during the 1930s.<ref name = uhls/>  The cemetery went mostly unattended except for a local man named William Christian who volunteered to be [[Property caretaker|caretaker]] and did so from 1918 to his death in 1961.<ref name = TU/><ref name =uhls/> Christian kept notes of [[interment]]s,<ref name =uhls/> which indicate that the cemetery served upwards of 1,400 burials.<ref name = TU/> Burials continued in the cemetery until about 1975, when the cemetery went completely unattended.<ref name = TU/>

Until 1987, control of the cemetery was in dispute. During that year, control was vested in the Town of Brunswick, at the decree of New York State.<ref name = TU/> In response, the town created a Forest Park Cemetery Advisory Council in 1991, but it ended up being disbanded in 1994.<ref name = uhls/> Based on local obituaries, the cemetery was put back into use in the late 1990s<ref>{{cite news |title=Bessie J. Wager, 96 (Obituary) |publisher=[[Times Union (Albany)]] |date=1995-11-25 |page=B8 |accessdate=2009-06-20 |url=http://archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5751399 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and has been used as recently as 2005<ref>{{cite news |title=Edna M. Murphy (Obituary) |publisher=[[Times Union (Albany)]] |date=2005-10-16 |page=B7 |accessdate=2009-06-20 |url=http://archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6302565 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> for a burial. Employees from the Town of Brunswick made multiple attempts during the 1990s and 2000s to remove the overgrown brush and plants, which had become a major problem.<ref name = TU/>

In 1988, the cemetery was featured in the local ''Times Record'' newspaper after two youths discovered a partially exhumed grave. Two shovels, a pick and several beer cans were found at the crime scene. Although police reports were filed, no one was apprehended for the crime.

In 2007, a local Boy Scout and Brunswick resident Evan Duffey completed his Eagle Scout project, a "census" and map of all the gravestones in the cemetery. A map and database containing all of the gravestones and the names upon them is available at the Town of Brunswick offices for those trying to locate family buried in Forest Park.

==Urban legends==
The cemetery has been the center of many local and national [[urban legend]]s. For one, it is said that the cemetery ranked in a [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]] article entitled "Top Ten Most Haunted Places in the Country".<ref name = book>{{cite book |title=Haunted New York |last=Revai |first=Cheri |author2=Heather Adel Wiggins |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=2005 |pages=32–33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfCqVs2RgUsC&q=%22forest+park+cemetery%22+pinewoods+%22life+magazine%22 |isbn=0-8117-3249-5 }}</ref> Some also say that the cemetery is the "Gateway to [[Hell]]".<ref name = Metroland>{{cite web |title=What Was That? Is the creep factor of Forest Park Cemetery about active spooks or overactive imaginations? |last=Morrow |first=Ann |date=2002-10-31 |accessdate=2009-06-20 |publisher= Metroland |url=http://www.metroland.net/back_issues/vol_26_no44/halloween.html}}</ref> Others also claim that a decapitated statue of an angel bleeds from the neck.<ref name = Metroland/> After researching the subject, the Brunswick Town Historian states that she has never come across the LIFE Magazine article, and thus it has become another legend. The "blood" on the statue also seems to be due to a moss that, when rubbed on a humid day, turns red.<ref name = Metroland/>

In addition, the legends of hauntings also come by stories of the mausoleum doors collapsing to the ground revealing no caskets interred inside. This has been explained by the fact the building was only a receiving tomb for winter months. During cold months of the year it was nearly impossible to prepare a gravesite.

Likely the result of these legends has contributed to the vandalism and overall lack of "respect" for the property.

==See also==
* [[List of reportedly haunted locations in the world]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Forestpark-angel.jpg|A headless angel from the cemetery
File:Headless statue.jpg|Another headless statue
</gallery>

==References==
{{Commons category|Forest Park Cemetery}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1898 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Brunswick, New York]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in Rensselaer County, New York]]