Trinity Church Wall Street Cemetery, Hamilton Monuments

Trinity Episcopal Church’s cemetery, located near bustling Wall Street in New York City, dates as far back as 1681 and was used through the 1820s. It is the historic resting place of numerous influential New Yorkers; two of the more famous memorials include those to Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza. The Hamilton’s monuments were established approximately 200 years ago on the southern burial ground and are comprised of sandstone and white marble.

In 2023, EverGreene was retained by Trinity Church to conduct a cursory conditions assessment of and perform treatments on the monuments of Alexander and Eliza Hamilton. The monuments were found to suffer from erosion, corrosion, atmospheric soiling, biological growth (like moss), grout deterioration, cracking, scratching, chipping, and were splattered with paint. Cleaning tests and mockups were performed to determine gentlest and most effective methods, from which full scale treatments were derived. The monuments were cleaned of soiling and biological growth, selectively repointed, had major cracks infilled, paint splatter removed, and given a protective coating in select areas prone to excess deterioration. Maintenance recommendations were also provided to ensure the future preservation of the monuments.