Woodland Cemetery is located at the intersection of Victory  Boulevard and Highland Avenue, and is one of the oldest cemeteries on Staten Island.


The Cemetery was originally established in 1854 through a grant of land comprising six acres by John King Vanderbilt (a first cousin of “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt) and his wife, Amy, to the German Mission Church of the Episcopal Church, operating out of St. John’s Parish, Clifton. In May 1869, a group of Staten Island residents, interested in establishing a cemetery, met at the public house of Frederick Gieser (later known as Credos Hotel) on Bay Street in Stapleton.  These residents organized themselves as the “Woodland Cemetery Association.” In October 1870, the Association obtained all  of the property previously set aside as a cemetery from the German Mission Church and, a few years later, additional property was obtained, bringing the Cemetery to its current size of about ten acres.