Washington Irving rests in the cemetery that gave the village its name

Back in 1820, Washington Irving wrote a short story called “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” about a spooky glen near Tarrytown and the galloping ghost who haunts it, the Headless Horseman. The tale grew so famous that in 1996 the village voted to take the name Sleepy Hollow for itself. Not many towns can say a single ghost story put them on the map.

The best place to feel that history is Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, a non-profit burying ground founded in 1849 (it was called Tarrytown Cemetery until 1865). Irving helped get it started, and he chose his own resting place here, next to his mother. His grave is a plain marble slab in the Irving family plot, and the cemetery says it is the most-visited spot on the grounds.

You can also see the old stone-arched bridge over the Pocantico River that visitors connect to the famous chase scene. The real story was set right around this hollow, so a walk here is a walk through the pages of the book.

If you want the full tale told well, master storyteller Jonathan Kruk performs “Irving’s Legend” each fall at Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, the author’s own riverside home nearby in Irvington.