Green-Wood Cemetery is 478 acres of scenic beauty and serves as a final resting place for more than 570,000 people. It was one of the nation’s first rural cemeteries, founded more than 180 years ago in Brooklyn.

Archivists and historians have been cataloging millions of files pertaining to Green-Wood's so-called permanent residents. "These records here go from 1840 to 1937, representing over 400 thousand burials," archivist Anthony Cucchiara said.

Green-Wood Cemetery has amassed more than 8,000 pieces of art, artifacts, and documents in the past two decades. All of these items illustrate Green-Wood’s rich history. For the first time, all of the items illustrating Green-Wood’s rich history are available to the public in a new web portal.

"All of the pain-staking cataloging that has been going on for years is finally being opened up to an outside audience,” said Stacy Locke, the manager of historical collections.

"These materials were primarily used by staff to address the needs of the cemetery, to conduct its business, but over the years we have realized the great, tremendous amount of historical and genealogical value," Cucchiara said.

Highlights include burial documents from famous New York families like the Steinways, who were piano makers, as well as the Roosevelts. Visitors can even see an art collection and a Baseball Hall of Fame bat commemorating baseball pioneer Henry Chadwick.

"There are thousands of stories to be told on our grounds that have not been told yet, that we don't even know, and we are going to be uncovering them year by year," Locke said.

Green-Wood is an active cemetery, but in recent years has been transforming into a cultural institution as well, sort of an outdoor museum.

"Helping share our rich history with people from our archives and collections like we are talking about but also hosting people out on our grounds for tours and educational experiences," Locke said.