People pay tribute to dog who passed away 100 years ago by leaving sticks at his grave
The Green-Wood Cemetery in South Brooklyn, New York receives many visitors for a good boy who passed away a long time ago.
Rex is his name. Believed to be buried with his owner, John E. Stow, Rex stands guard over Stow with a bronze statue of the dog’s likeness.
Stow was one of New York’s most prominent fruit merchants who passed away sometime in 1884.
The cemetery houses famous artists and musicians. Names like Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ebbets, and Jean-Michel Basquiat are truly impressive but it’s Rex’s grave that has become one of the most visited.
Rex is near the corner of Sycamore and Greenbough Avenues.
Just look for the pile of sticks and fallen branches above his paws.
People still think Rex is a good boy even though he passed away over 100 years ago.
“When it comes to Rex, he obviously stands out. People see him from the road — it’s sort of a prominent spot, right off of the intersection of two roads here,” Stacy Locke, communications manager for Green-Wood Cemetery, told The Dodo.
“It’s right under a tree and there are lots of sticks around,” she added. “People will drop a stick across his little paws. Someone also left a picture of a dog there once, maybe their little pet who passed away, as to say, ‘Rex, look after my little one.’”
The 478-acre cemetery became a popular destination for those seeking nature trips during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a great place to avoid crowds.
The stick collection has collectively grown over the past months. Visitors will walk around the park to collect fallen branches then bring it to his tomb.
As curious and as interesting as it all sounds, no one knows whether Rex was actually buried there with Stow or not.
Rex’s grave has gone viral on social media. Twitter and Facebook posts discuss the dog’s famous burial site.
“In Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn there is a gravestone for a dog named Rex. People bring him sticks and place them at his feet because he is still a good boy,” tweeted @KevinTMorales.
Rex isn’t the only one in the cemetery though. Another dog receives lots of love from outsiders.
“There’s another dog sculpture that has a similar mysterious story but it’s a little bit more off the beaten path,” Locke said. “And that one typically has toys left on it.”
Many owners were buried with their pets before the cemetery’s board of trustees banned animal burials in 1879.
The Green-Wood cemetery is still open and guests can book walks or trolleys, all depending on the history they’d like to learn about. And they get to pick up sticks and leave them on Rex’s paws.
Visit Green-Wood yourself and be sure to leave a stick or toy on the resting places of these furry friends who have gone beyond the rainbow bridge.
They’ll look down on you with love, waiting for you to someday join them up there.
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