Calvary Cemetery

Years of Use: 1848 to date

Location: Bisected by the Long Island Expressway and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Woodside, Queens

History: Owned and managed by the Archdiocese of New York, Calvary Cemetery has had more interments than any other cemetery in the United States. In the early 1990s, there were nearly three million graves, a number greater than the living population of Queens. For many years, there were more burials at Calvary Cemetery than in any other cemetery in the city.

In the mid-1800s, Calvary was the only cemetery where the "deserving poor" could be buried for free (excepting New York City's public cemeteries). These graves were obtained only upon the recommendation of a clergyman.

During the Civil War, Calvary set aside four plots for the interment of Catholic soldiers whose remains were not otherwise provided for. New York City erected a soldiers' monument on the site in 1866.

The first section of the cemetery is known as First Calvary Cemetery, Calvary Cemetery, and Old Calvary Cemetery. It includes the Alsop Family Burial Ground, the only known Protestant burial ground within a Roman Catholic Cemetery. Poor Irish immigrants from the tenements of lower Manhattan were among the first to be buried in First Calvary. It is located on the west side of Laurel Hill Boulevard, between the Long Island Expressway and Review Avenue.

By 1867, First Calvary Cemetery was full, and the trustees began to purchase nearby farms for the creation of Second Calvary Cemetery. Second Calvary is on the west side of 58th Street, between Queens Boulevard and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Land acquisition for this section ended in 1888.

Third Calvary Cemetery was established in 1879, on the west side of 58th Street, between the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Long Island Expressway. Fourth Calvary Cemetery was established in 1900, on the west side of 58th Street, between the Long Island Expressway and 55th Avenue.

Individually, and together, Second, Third, and Fourth Calvary Cemeteries have all been referred to as New Calvary Cemetery.

Mailing Address:
Calvary Cemetery
49-02 Laurel Hill Boulevard
Flushing, New York 11377-7396

Phone Number: (718) 786-8000

Records: Burial records are available for a fee. You must know the date of death or burial, since Calvary's records are arranged by date. There are no records for the years 1848 to 1852.

Resources: Ardolina, Rosemary Muscarella. Old Calvary Cemetery: New Yorkers Carved in Stone. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1996. (limited number of gravestone inscriptions)