riverview cemetery

trenton, new jersey

Here you will find the resting place of Washington Augustus Roebling II, who went down with the Titanic. He was a relative of the Roebling family who built the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as inventing and producing the steel cable for icons like the Golden Gate Bridge. This epic family, responsible for two of America’s most iconic structures, was based in Trenton and young Washington was a playboy. An early 20th century automobile enthusiast, he and his friend, Stephen Blackwell, a Princeton student, took a trip to tour Europe and they brought along Washington’s cars. They drove all over Europe and decided to take a ship back home along with a New Jersey socialite they met while in Europe. The ship was named… well, you know how the rest goes. It is serene and peaceful to visit this little known grave. The cemetery looks out over the Delaware River, nearby is Waterfront Park, the Trenton Thunder baseball stadium and the Trenton city center.

piers 54-59

manhattan, new york city

After stopping briefly at Pier 59 to drop of Titanic’s rescue boats, the Carpathia continued south along the West River toward the Cunard Line’s home pier, Pier 54, to finally dock and allow Titanic survivors to touch land for the first time. There are a few remnants of the Cunard Line, including an old sign on a steel beam arch over the entranceway to Pier 54. This area is a close walk to the Whitney Museum, the Standard Biergarten for something good to eat and drink, and of the incomparable High Line for a lovely walk with views you can’t get anywhere else on one of the most unique public walkways in the entire world. I recommend taking a walk on the High Line after visiting the Cunard Pier, so you can see the views of the West River and meditate on the image of the Carpathia floating down to dock over 100 years ago, photographers and journalists, celebrities as well as families of passengers waiting eagerly for their return.

Port-au-Prince

One of only three known passengers of African descent aboard the RMS Titanic, Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche was on his way from Europe to his home in Haiti. His uncle was the President of Haiti. Joseph was an engineer by profession, and a first class passenger. His first two daughters were born in Paris, and their third they wanted to be born in Haiti. The only first class passengers of African descent on the Titanic were the LaRoche’s. Joseph’s pregnant wife, Juliette Louise, and two daughters got onto one of the lifeboats (lifeboat 8 or 14) and survived. Juliette, born in Paris, eventually returned to France with her family and gave birth to their son, Joseph. In New York they were supposed to connect to Port-au-Prince, where President Cincinnatus Leconte was waiting for their visit. Months after the Titanic disaster, President Leconte, Joseph’s uncle, died in the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince.