Check out a newer (2020) updated version of this post on my new blog: The Ultimate Guide To Sleepy Hollow, New York
Interestingly enough the Old Dutch Church Cemetery and Burial Ground is Sleepy Hollow’s number one tourist attraction. It seems odd that a cemetery would be a tourist attraction but there is something hauntingly beautiful about this particular graveyard. You can take a guided lantern tour through the cemetery for more information click here. However, for those who flock to the cemetery hoping to find the actual people behind The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’s characters, I’ve got your back!
If you are looking for the inspiration for Katrina Van Tassel it isn’t the similarly named Catriena van Tessel. While her name was borrowed for the story the real inspiration was from Eleanor van Tassel Bush.
F.O.C. Darley 1822-1888. Annex Galleries.
Abraham “Brom” Bones can be found under the name Abraham Martling.
According to Irving the Hessian Headless Horseman was buried in the churchyard. There is an unmarked field in the northeast corner of the cemetery where the outcasts were buried with no headstones.
And don’t forget Washington Irving’s gravesite.
Other legends surround Sleepy Hollow. There is a Bronze Lady statue in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (different then Old Dutch Church Cemetary) and it is said if someone sits in her lap, knocks on her tomb or kicks her in the shin they will be plagued by nightmares for 2 weeks.
For other real inspirations of Washington Irving’s, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow you can see the Philipsburg Manor, which was the inspiration for the Van Tassel’s house.
Resources
Kruk, Jonathan. Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley. The History Press, 2011. Kindle.
Have you been to Old Dutch Church Cemetery or the Philipsburg Manor house? What did you think?
