In the heart of Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn — a sprawling, 478-acre resting place for artists, generals, and politicians — one grave stands out for a very different reason.
Near the corner of Sycamore and Greenbough Avenues lies Rex, a life-size bronze statue of a dog stretched out peacefully atop a stone slab engraved with his name.
For more than a century, Rex has kept watch over his owner’s plot — and to this day, visitors continue to bring him gifts.
Not flowers. Not coins.
But sticks.
“People see him from the road — it’s sort of a prominent spot, right off 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. People will drop a stick across his little paws.”
Sometimes, visitors leave photos of their own late pets, as if asking Rex to look after them.
Rex is believed to have belonged to John E. Stow, one of Brooklyn’s longest-practicing fruit merchants, who passed away in 1884. A note from the 19th century mentions a “bronze likeness of a dog” placed at Stow’s grave — though no one knows for sure if Rex himself is buried there.
“I think people like to believe that there is a dog interred there — and there very well might be,” Locke said. “But it’s hard to say.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Green-Wood became a refuge for locals seeking quiet and nature. As more visitors discovered the cemetery’s hidden corners, Rex’s little pile of sticks began to grow — one branch at a time, left by strangers who felt moved to honor him.
Rex isn’t the only animal remembered here. Before the cemetery banned animal burials in 1879, several beloved pets were laid to rest beside their families. Another hidden dog statue on the grounds has its own mystery — and instead of sticks, visitors leave it toys.
Still, it’s Rex who has become Green-Wood’s unofficial guardian and symbol of everlasting loyalty.
More than 100 years later, this good boy’s memory continues to inspire kindness — and his collection of sticks keeps growing, proof that love between humans and dogs never really fades.
You can find Rex watching faithfully from Lot 2925, Section 81 at Green-Wood Cemetery — still waiting, still loved, still surrounded by gifts from those who believe that good boys are forever.
To learn more about Green-Wood Cemetery's furry and feathered residents, you can visit their website here.
