This 1998 write-up is from a 2008 booklet from the Springs Historical Society Collection that details the history of many notable residents of Green River Cemetery in Springs.
The cemetery began as a small nondenominational burial ground, with numerous local family names appearing. Many remaining Bonackers — from Kings to Talmages, Millers, and Bennetts — expected to be buried beside their forbearers, just as their parents and grandparents did. However, since space there is sold out, only those who previously purchased plots will be able to join family in Green River Cemetery.
Changes began in 1956, when the Abstract-Expressionist Jackson Pollock joined the old families interred in Green River, fulfilling a request made to his wife, Lee Krasner, on their walks through the grounds. He is known as the first outsider buried at Green River despite his living in Springs for a decade before his death.
Pollock and Krasner bought a house on Fireplace Road, beginning a trend of artists and writers visiting friends in Springs, falling in love with the area, and buying houses or vacant land. Some became year-round residents, others stayed for summers.
Pollock’s burial also began a different trend, and in the decade following, Green River Cemetery became the final resting place for dozens of artists of all kinds, including some who never lived in Springs. The painter Ad Reinhart joked in 1967 about the little graveyard’s growing fame, that people “are dying to go.” His joke evidently reflected personal sentiments, as weeks later he was also laid to rest there.
Many of the newcomers buried at Green River greatly diversified the styles of grave markers in the cemetery, and visitors will find stylized film reels and a beer cask among other traditional and nontraditional markers.
Although Green River became the place to bury and be buried for many mid-20th century artists, it continues to also be the place of eternal rest for Springs residents from local families, resulting in an mix of schoolteachers and farmers sharing space with renowned artists.
View a video of the East Hampton Library’s recent walking tour of Green River Cemetery with Hugh King and Helen Harrison on the Library’s YouTube page: youtube.com/ehamlib.
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Moriah Moore is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library's Long Island Collection.
