Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States New York State New York City Beacon The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery

The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery

This abandoned cemetery is crumbling into ruin, exposing the artifacts and bodies buried there.

Beacon, New York

Added By
Luke Spencer
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
  Mattice Family / Atlas Obscura User
  philipclay5740 / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
August 2021   buriedsecretspodcast / Atlas Obscura User
August 2021   buriedsecretspodcast / Atlas Obscura User
Sarah Teller’s grave, August 2021   buriedsecretspodcast / Atlas Obscura User
August 2021   buriedsecretspodcast / Atlas Obscura User
The church at dawn   buriedsecretspodcast / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
Joseph Lomac grave and others, August 2021   buriedsecretspodcast / Atlas Obscura User
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery   e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
Stone gate and the Hudson, August 2021   buriedsecretspodcast / Atlas Obscura User
The Tellers’ Vault, August 2021   buriedsecretspodcast / Atlas Obscura User
August 2021   buriedsecretspodcast / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Sitting atop a hill overlooking the Hudson River, the old Reformed Dutch church of Fishkill Landing has been ministering to the local parishioners of Beacon, NY since 1859. Still operating today, the Victorian Gothic church is the oldest in the charming upstate town. But hidden in the woods behind the idyllic church, the town's cemetery lies in ghostly ruins.

Most of the gravestones date from the Victorian era, but with the most recent burial dating to the 1920s. Almost all of them have toppled over from neglect. Built into the steep hill leading from the church down to the river are the old vaults once reserved for some of Beacon's most venerable families. But whilst perpetual care has maintained the mausoleums of other such New York cemeteries as Greenwood in Brooklyn, the vaults of the old Reform church lie broken into. The stone chambers inside have collapsed leaving actual human skeletons on display. In one vault, a gold ring lies cast aside next to an antiquated bow tie. It seems not as though they have been desecrated, but have simply been allowed to fall apart. 

With the church on top of the hill still opening its doors every Sunday, the old cemetery below continues to disintegrate. Visits to historic cemeteries are often filled with unusual tombstones with peculiar stories behind them. But the old graveyard hidden behind the Dutch Reform church, with its broken-open vaults, might be the most haunting of them all.

Related Tags

Abandoned Cemeteries Graveyards

Know Before You Go

The church is closed and locked except for NA meetings and service on Sunday. The cemetery is behind the church and down a steep hill; however, there are "No Trespassing" signs and an orange mesh gate blocking the way.

Community Contributors

Added By

Luke J Spencer

Edited By

Martin, e1savage, CorpseLady84, philipclay5740...

  • Martin
  • e1savage
  • CorpseLady84
  • philipclay5740
  • buriedsecretspodcast
  • fasteddiez80
  • Mattice Family

Published

February 12, 2015

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Church_of_Beacon
The Abandoned Dutch Reform Church Cemetery
1113 Wolcott Avenue
Beacon, New York, 12508
United States
41.506411, -73.980362
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Madam Brett Park

Beacon, New York

miles away

Old Beacon Hat Mill

Beacon, New York

miles away

Zelda Fitzgerald's Abandoned Sanatorium

Beacon, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Beacon

Beacon

New York

Places 7

Nearby Places

Madam Brett Park

Beacon, New York

miles away

Old Beacon Hat Mill

Beacon, New York

miles away

Zelda Fitzgerald's Abandoned Sanatorium

Beacon, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Beacon

Beacon

New York

Places 7

Related Places

  • Staten Island, New York

    Sleight Family Graveyard

    The final resting place of some of Staten Island's earliest settlers and their descendants.

  • Bewdley, England

    Dowles Graveyard

    The church is gone, but the graves and legends remain.

  • The memorial to the Jewish pioneers.

    Tombstone, Arizona

    Jewish Pioneers Memorial

    The Jewish section of the famous Boothill Graveyard was abandoned for nearly 100 years.

  • Iosepa welcome sign, Skull Valley, Utah.

    Grantsville, Utah

    Iosepa Ghost Town

    A desert settlement founded and later abandoned by Hawaiian members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah's Skull Valley.

  • No names. Just numbers.

    Stony Point, New York

    Old Letchworth Village Cemetery

    Hundreds of numbered stakes hidden in the woods mark the graves of the lost souls of a nearby asylum.

  • Dispatch, one of the Purton hulks.

    Gloucestershire, England

    Purton Hulks

    Abandoned boats decaying in the largest ship graveyard in mainland Britain.

  • Abandoned oil rigs.

    Highland, Scotland

    Oil Rig Graveyard

    Where the sleeping monsters of Scotland's oil industry are left to rust.

  • Death in juxtaposition with spring flowers

    San Andres de Giles, Argentina

    Abandoned Cemetery of San Andres de Giles

    Crumbling crypts and overgrown graves rise just out of arm's reach in this forgotten Buenos Aires graveyard.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.