Friends of Albany Rural Cemetery

10/14/2026

🎃🚨 CALLING ALL TRUNKS! 🚨🎃

We’ve got the treats.
We’ve got the Chapel.
We've got the music.
We've got a few surprises up our sleeves. AND
We’ve DEFINITELY got the cemetery. ⚰️👻

Now we need YOUR TRUNK!!!

Albany Rural Cemetery’s TRUNK OR TREAT is coming up, and we’re looking for people ready to pop the hatch, open the trunk, and go ALL OUT for Halloween!

📅 Saturday, October 24, 2026
⏰ 1:00–3:00 p.m.
📍 The Chapel at Albany Rural Cemetery

Turn your trunk into a haunted house. A monster. A pirate ship. A witch’s lair. A graveyard. A mad scientist’s laboratory. Or something wonderfully weird we haven’t even thought of yet.

Cute? YES.
Creepy? ABSOLUTELY.
Completely ridiculous? EVEN BETTER. 🎃

No professional decorating skills required. Just bring your imagination, some candy, and your Halloween spirit. We want YOU to help us create an afternoon of great fun for the families and kids who join us!

🏆 AND DID WE MENTION PRIZES?!

That’s right! Prizes will be awarded for the BEST decorated trunks, so if you’ve got a competitive streak, now’s the time to let it out and shine.

This is Albany Rural Cemetery, after all.

We have 467 acres of Halloween atmosphere.

YOU just need a parking space.

👻 Think you’ve got the best trunk in town?

PROVE IT. 😈

🚗🎃 TRUNKS WANTED! 🎃🚗

Comment here if you'd like us to reserve a spot for your vehicle (and it's trunk, of course), or reach out to us at [email protected] and let us know you'll be part of the fun!!!

10/13/2026

Here are a few photos from a walk in Albany Rural Cemetery on a cloudy day. The colors are still vibrant, and our heron made an appearance at Cypress Pond. 💙

10/11/2026

f you weren’t at Linden Lodge with us, you missed plenty of hard work, dust and debris and, believe it or not, a lot of fun!
We spent the day beginning the careful demolition work necessary to address damage caused by last winter’s flooding. There is a great deal of work ahead, but it felt good to get started and see real progress.

The historic photograph below shows Linden Lodge at Albany Rural Cemetery’s South Gate more than 130 years ago. Captioned “The Southern Gate (Menands road.),” it appears in Henry P. Phelps’s The Albany Rural Cemetery: Its Beauties, Its Memories, prepared in 1892 and published in 1893. Remarkably, much remains recognizable today.

Getting to Albany Rural looked quite different in the nineteenth century. Lot owners were issued tickets permitting them to enter with a horse-drawn vehicle. And not everyone had a carriage of their own. The July 1, 1879 Albany Evening Times reported that Jeffrey P. Thomas, Superintendent of Albany Rural Cemetery, arranged for a “comfortable waggon” and driver to meet visitors arriving by train. For just 10 cents round trip, visitors could be taken to their lots and returned to the train—compared with $5 to hire a carriage from Albany.

We are currently researching Linden Lodge’s early history and searching for its original architectural plans. We know it was standing by 1892, years before the Superintendent’s Residence (also known as the Marcus T. Reynolds House) was constructed in 1899.

Restoring Linden Lodge will take time, volunteer help, specialized expertise and financial support. This weekend was just the beginning, and there will be more opportunities to get involved.

A special thank you to Albany Cemetery Association Trustee Bruce Otto for organizing and leading the day’s work, and to everyone who rolled up their sleeves and joined us. We accomplished quite a bit and had a lot of fun doing it!

10/09/2026

Another gorgeous autumn day in Albany Rural Cemetery! 🍂 🍁

10/07/2026

10/06/2026

President Chester A. Arthur Wreath Laying Ceremony

What a memorable day at Albany Rural Cemetery as we gathered for our annual Presidential Wreath-Laying Ceremony yesterday, commemorating the 197th anniversary of the birth of Chester Alan Arthur, 21st President of the United States.

In keeping with the longstanding tradition of honoring deceased United States Presidents on the anniversaries of their births, a wreath from the President of the United States was presented at President Arthur’s gravesite by Brigadier General Patrick Clare of the New York Army National Guard along with State Command Sergeant Major Leylan Jones. With beautiful fall weather as our backdrop, members of the New York Army National Guard, special guests, Albany Cemetery Association Trustees and Friends of the Albany Rural Cemetery came together for this meaningful tribute.

We extend our sincere appreciation to Brigadier General Patrick Clare; Major Michael Scholes, Chaplain; State Command Sergeant Major Leylan Jones; and Staff Sergeant Grace Kirkpatrick, who sounded Taps.

We are also grateful to the members of the Cordon: Colonel Mark Frank, Colonel Josh Heimroth, Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Ackley, Jr., Master Sergeant Brooke Leavitt, Sergeant First Class Casey Rosiak, and Staff Sergeant Daniel Huehn, and the Color Guard: Sergeant First Class Nicholas Hayes, Sergeant First Class Amelia McGrath, Staff Sergeant Kevin Heady, and Staff Sergeant Nicolas Scialdone, for their participation in the ceremony.

We extend particular thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Ackley and Master Sergeant Leavitt for their exceptional guidance and assistance to Annette Franchini, President of the Friends, throughout the planning and preparation for this important day. Their support was invaluable and deeply appreciated.

Our thanks as well to our guest speaker, author and historian David Pietrusza; Michele Lyons-Polito, who performed the hymn “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes; and our ceremony host, Albany Cemetery Association Trustee Lance W. Ingmire.

We were also pleased to welcome representatives of Colonel George L. Willard Camp No. 154, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, who joined in paying tribute to President Arthur by placing a commemorative wreath at his gravesite.

Behind the scenes, Albany Rural Cemetery’s outstanding grounds crew worked diligently to prepare the site, meticulously mowing and tending the surrounding area and assisting with setup and breakdown. Their hard work ensured that President Arthur’s gravesite and the surrounding grounds looked their absolute best for this important ceremony.

Following the ceremony, refreshments were provided by the Friends of the Albany Rural Cemetery, giving guests an opportunity to gather and visit on a beautiful fall morning.

Albany Rural Cemetery is privileged to be the final resting place of President Arthur, and we are proud to continue this annual tradition of remembering and honoring his life and service to our nation.

To everyone who participated, attended, and worked behind the scenes, our heartfelt thanks for helping us pay fitting tribute to President Chester Alan Arthur on the 197th anniversary of his birth.

10/05/2026

Please join us for “Stories From the Past” on Sunday, October 18, 2026 from 11 AM to 1 PM, a guided walking tour that will highlight local and spiritual history! The tour will be led by Michele Lyons-Polito, a psychic/medium and ghost rescuer. The tour is $20 per person. Meet at Albany Rural’s Cypress Pond. This tour will be rain or shine. We look forward to you joining this tour through our beautiful cemetery. 🍁🍁

Wear comfortable walking shoes!

For sign up and tickets please click on this link: https://forms.donorsnap.com/Form/Index/a09a8477-d516-4a5f-8507-d7d1b9249014