meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Atlas Obscura Podcast

The Grave of Charlotte Temple

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura

Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.61.6K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the 1800s, people flocked to a special gravestone in New York City’s Trinity Churchyard. They left flowers and cards and even wept. But there was one strange thing about this gravestone: No one was buried beneath it.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, Allegra. Hello. How are you doing?

0:02.6

I'm good, Dylan. How are you?

0:04.1

I am good. So, I'm going to ask you some questions and have you help paint a picture of this particular place we're visiting today.

0:12.0

I'm a tourist in New York City in the 1800s. So, you know, like top hat, dressed fancy. I don't know.

0:21.0

And I'm there to visit a very specific graveyard called Trinity Churchyard in Lower Manhattan.

0:28.1

And it's a really famous place already back then.

0:31.4

It has a bunch of very famous people buried there.

0:34.6

It's got Alexander Hamilton.

0:36.7

But actually, I look and I see that all these

0:38.7

people are gathered around this one specific grave. What is going on over there? What is this

0:43.9

scene that I'm looking at? Well, there is a grave that's the only one in the churchyard that's

0:49.4

marked out with flowers. And that's so people can easily find it because the caretakers are sick of people

0:55.2

coming up to ask where this specific grave is. The people that are coming up to this grave,

0:59.9

they're men, their women, maybe even newly married couples hand in hand, and they're leaving

1:05.9

more flowers, they're leaving cards. They're even crying at this grave. So obviously this is like someone in this like a big deal grave site.

1:15.3

Whose grave is this?

1:16.8

Well, so here's the thing.

1:18.6

The gravestone says Charlotte Temple.

1:22.4

But Charlotte Temple is a fictional character.

1:25.8

She never existed.

1:26.6

And there's nobody actually buried in the grave.

1:34.1

I'm Dilan Theris, and this is Atlas Obscira,

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 15 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.