Bushwick is the new home to many of our readers, but its history stretches back to the founding of Brooklyn. So join local historian Adam Schwartz (and guests) for Bushwick Geographic, a series of historical excursions across time and the space of Bushwick, in what was once the city of Brooklyn.

But this is no mere trip down memory lane. With the use of our handy locator maps, you can walk the same streets of Bushwick with a whole new view on the past of our community.

Bushwick’s southern end marks the beginning of the cemetery belt, a vast grouping of 29 cemeteries where over 5 million New Yorkers are buried. The Belt developed in the mid to late 19th century, as a product of the Rural Cemeteries Act, as bodies were taken out of backyards and churchyards in Manhattan to move to the "Green Hills" of Brooklyn, as they were once known.

The most interesting of these cemeteries is certainly Bushwick’s own Most Holy Trinity, at the end of Central Avenue, just south of the intersection of Central and Chauncey Street (map). Many of us see it everyday as we pull past it on the L train at Wilson Avenue Station.

What stands out about Most Holy Trinity is quite clear even from the distance of the train. It is a field of rusted tombstones, where few names stand out. This is what is left of a great experiment in equality.

Unlike the other cemeteries in the Cemetery Belt, Most Holy Trinity Cemetery is all about Bushwick. It was once associated with Most Holy Trinity Church, located on Montrose Avenue between Graham and Manhattan Avenues (map). The church was first established in 1841 by Father John Stephen Raffeiner. His community was newly arrived German immigrants who were coming to the area in increasing numbers to escape political turmoil in Germany.

German immigrants came in increasing numbers throughout the 1840’s and soon the original church as not big enough. The cemetery which, was once located on the same block, was established as the site of the new Church building. A four acre parcel of the Evergreen Cemetery was bought for $1,025, and the bodies of parishioners were "respectfully transferred" to the current site.

The German community of Bushwick was unlike other 19th century immigrants, for many of them came over with their wealth, which they invested in the beer industry. So it was a wealthy community, as you can tell from seeing the church even today. But the church was also attended by poorer families, like that of the Nolan Family in Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Father Raffeiner, wanting the church to be a place for all classes, made a simple rule for Most Holy Trinity Cemetery. All the tombstones would be made from metal (zinc) to abolish distinctions between the rich and the poor.

Sadly, this notion of equality is as hard to read as the names on the tombstones. The maintenance man suggested that the metal tombstones were there for the "swampy ground." It seems more renowned for its eeriness than equality. But it is a great place to see at least once — though the security guards don’t always welcome visitors. The gates are open from 10AM to 5PM during the warmer months, and till 4PM the rest of the year.