Congressional Cemetery Comes Alive

The Congressional Cemetery does not fit the stereotype of a typical Washington, D.C. landmark.

It’s not owned by the Smithsonian. It doesn’t have a multimillion dollar interactive museum or any gleaming white monuments. It’s not even in many guidebooks.

Maybe the lack of a museum feel is what draws so many locals to the Congressional Cemetery. Rather than school trips and tourists, you’re likely to find joggers and dog walkers.

“For all the dog owners in the Capitol Hill area that come here it certainly is a community,” said dog owner Vanessa Lavallee. “It’s funny because there are a lot of people I see and I only know them by their dog’s name. Like Rocco’s dad or Daisy’s mom.”

In fact, since the cemetery is run privately, dog walking is how the cemetery makes much of its revenue. Members pay a fee of $200 per household plus $50 for each dog for the right to walk there. And they are required to give 12 hours of their time annually for the upkeep of the grounds. 

“I’m glad to pay it because my dog loves it here and the money is basically a charitable contribution,” Lavallee said.

 The Congressional Cemetery was the final resting place for legislators, past presidents and Native American chiefs before Arlington National Cemetery was built.

But history is important at this little known District landmark. It’s more than 200 years old and is D.C.’s oldest burial ground.

“It was the Arlington Cemetery before there was an Arlington,” said Alan Davies, cemetery manager.

The mix of people buried there is eclectic: senators, congressmen, three presidents (temporarily), veterans of every American war, colorful Washingtonians and American Indian chiefs and dignitaries who died while negotiating treaties.

Or on April 14 you can attend “Lincoln Death Day.” There are about 25 people associated with Lincoln’s death buried in the cemetery, ranging from his personal secretary to a conspirator in his assassination, and the man that checked his coat at  Ford’s Theatre.  In April all of these people will come alive in the form of re-enactors and tell visitors their experiences on the day of Lincoln’s assassination.

The cemetery also has seven separate self-guided walking tours. There is one focused on notable women, one related to the Civil War, and one dedicated to American Indians.  

The Congressional Cemetery’s innovations are relatively recent, with renovations to fix the chapel, pathways, and tombs ongoing. In 1930, the cemetery was no longer used as an active burial ground and was more or less forgotten.

A volunteer organization raised funds to fix the cemetery's chapel roof and renovations are currently underway for pathways and tombs.
“In the '60s, the cemetery did not look like this,” Davies said. “There was grass that came up to the waist, tombstones falling over. It was in total disrepair. It was abandoned.”

In 1974, a volunteer organization known as the Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery was created. They pulled weeds, raised funds and fixed the chapel roof.

But since then, the cemetery has enjoyed a renaissance, and the staff at Congressional Cemetery are not afraid of trying new things when it comes to engaging visitors.

Walk around the graves and tombs -- some falling and cracked -- and you will find a plaque that reads “cell phone tour.” Call the number and you’ll hear the story of Push-ma-ta-ha, a Choctaw Indian chief, or Mary Hall, the leading “entertainment entrepreneur” -- i.e. madam -- of Capitol Hill in the late 19^th Century.