Grave Robbing for Beginners NYC
We will meet near Trinity Church and briefly discuss the history, theory, and practice of grave robbing. From there we'll walk through the Financial District, seeing extant churchyards and the many spaces along Nassau where graveyards used to be, discussing stories of anti-grave robbing riots that featured America's founding fathers, tales of sticky-fingered phrenologists, greedy developers, actors who wanted to play Yorick the Skull onstage, murders, and more—with all of the tips you need to know to launch your career as an 18th century body snatcher—today!
The tour includes Trinity Churchyard, St. Paul's churchyard, and the former sites of several graveyards, theaters, clubs, newspapers offices, phrenological cabinets, and more that used to dot lower Manhattan.
Hi. I’m Adam, a member of the Atlas Obscura community.
I'm the author of The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History, and HH Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil, and the upcoming "Who's Who" book for Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. I appear regularly on the History, Travel and Discovery channels, and have worked as a tour guide in Chicago and New York for fifteen years, including the first known grave robbing tours in each city. My research has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, and others.
For questions about this experience, please contact me directly through Airbnb.
Limited ADA accessibility the tour is conducted over sidewalks that aren't always perfect and might be crowded.
Shovels not required until we get to the advanced course.
No bathroom access during the tour.
Tour runs rain, shine or snow.
There are 10 spots available on this experience.
Guests ages 10 and up can attend.
Any experience can be canceled and fully refunded within 24 hours of purchase. See cancellation policy.
