Cemetery tour will explore history of New Utrecht

New Utrecht Cemetery. Eagle file photo

NEW UTRECHT — A TOUR OF BROOKLYN’S HISTORIC NEW UTRECHT CEMETERY, also known as the Old New Utrecht Cemetery, will be presented this Saturday, Nov. 1, which many religious traditions celebrate as All Saints Day. Larry Forni, historian and New Utrecht Cemetery expert, will present the tour, running from noon to 2 p.m., with a rain date of Nov. 8. The Friends of Historic New Utrecht are presenting the event, also courtesy of the New Utrecht Reformed Church. Attendees should gather at the 85th Street entrance.

The cemetery, established in 1653-64, pre-dates the New Utrecht Reformed Church, which was founded in 1677, and which built an octagon-shaped structure in 1700. One can find the plots of some of early New Utrecht’s prominent residents, among them members of the Van Brunt, Cortelyou and Cowenhoven families. The cemetery became a Designated Individual Landmark in 1998, according to the Historic District Council.

The town of New Utrecht was the last of six towns that the Dutch established in 1652, and in 1657 was established as a village, spanning an area from what is now 84th Street between 16th and 18th avenues, and part of what is now Bensonhurst, according to the Friends of Historic New Utrecht’s website.

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