Page 17 - 2026 Cortland Travel Guide

HISTORY

Visit these spooky cemeteries!

Cortland Rural Cemetery

Town of Cortland
Cortland Rural Cemetery is home to a “cemetrail,” a thoughtfully designed walking path that
winds for more than two miles, turning the cemetery itself into an open-air museum. Along the
way, interpretive stops reveal layers of local history, funerary architecture, and ancient geology.
It’s a place where curiosity is rewarded, and every turn of the trail offers something quietly
beautiful or wonderfully weird.

Glenwood Cemetery

Town of Homer
Perched high atop Glenwood Cemetery, down a narrow path through the woods, you’ll find Homer’s reinterred
Pioneer Cemetery. Behind a rickety picket fence lies the final resting place of the Popcorn Man (Don Brown), one of
pre-Civil War Homer’s most beloved and unforgettable figures. An African American candy peddler, Don was famous
for his oversized popcorn balls and a mischievous generosity that made him a favorite among children and townsfolk
until his death in 1860. It’s rumored that you can still smell popcorn drifting through the trees.

Lower Cincinnatus Cemetery

Town of Cincinnatus
Though small in stature, Lower Cincinnatus Cemetery holds more than a few unusual graves, but at the top
of the hill you’ll find its most extraordinary marker. There rests Lee G. Kibbe, one of Cincinnatus’ most
eccentric and beloved residents. A tinker, inventor, and mill operator, Kibbe carried a reputation as outsized
as the 1,800-pound millstone he chose for his grave.
New York Central College Cemetery

Town of McGraw
Lost for nigh on 150 years, the NY Central College Cemetery lay hidden in a dark, wild wood.
Rediscovered in the 1990’s, it has since been reborn as a trail highlighting the celebrations,
tribulations, and epidemic that befell the students at the defunct university. To begin your walk
through this nearly forgotten chapter of history, park at McGraw High School and head to the
adjacent baseball field. In the southeast corner, the self-guided cemetery trail quietly awaits.

Virgil Rural Cemetery
Town of Virgil
Harry Bloomer, a lonely orphan turned beloved clown, had two unique final wishes. The first, that he be buried in
his hometown as his alter ego, Blinky the Clown. The second, that his gravestone bears the cryptic epitaph: “Here
lies Blinky the clown. Doesn’t know whether he’s going up or down. Only knows he has to leave town.” Still adored by
many, his grave has become a strange spot where gifts often mysteriously appear, left by those who can’t resist the pull
of Blinky’s ghostly charm.

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