Established in 1853, with $5,000 from the U.S. Government, for the repose of sailors from foreign lands who died while in, or on route to the port of New York. Previously, friendless sailors would be buried in a potter's field, as the cost of removing each body back to their homeland was prohibitive. Each section of the ground is marked off by a marble monument - "America - Pacific", "America - Atlantic" "Asia", "Africa", "Spain", "France", "Netherlands", "Norway and Sweden", "Denmark", "Mexico", and "Central America." A large monument, with a fifty-foot tall column topped by a globe, stood at Beacon Hill, about 30 yard east of the Seamans Grounds. It was visible for several miles out in the harbor, and stood there for almost 100 years. This was also the location of Battery C of the 252nd Coast Artillery, an air defense battery of the U.S. Army, who maintained searchlights and listening devices on top of this hill in order to detect enemy attacks from the air. In 1957, when the monument was moved to its present location, on the Seaman's Grounds, the white marble column was discarded.
Established in 1853, with $5,000 from the U.S. Government, for the repose of sailors from foreign lands who died while in, or on route to the port of New York. Previously, friendless sailors would be buried in a potter's field, as the cost of removing each body back to their homeland was prohibitive. Each section of the ground is marked off by a marble monument - "America - Pacific", "America - Atlantic" "Asia", "Africa", "Spain", "France", "Netherlands", "Norway and Sweden", "Denmark", "Mexico", and "Central America." A large monument, with a fifty-foot tall column topped by a globe, stood at Beacon Hill, about 30 yard east of the Seamans Grounds. It was visible for several miles out in the harbor, and stood there for almost 100 years. This was also the location of Battery C of the 252nd Coast Artillery, an air defense battery of the U.S. Army, who maintained searchlights and listening devices on top of this hill in order to detect enemy attacks from the air. In 1957, when the monument was moved to its present location, on the Seaman's Grounds, the white marble column was discarded.
Bio by: Joe Fodor
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