ROCK CREEK CEMETERY - DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The cemetery is owned by the governing body of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Rock Creek Parish. At a church meeting in September 1719, longtime member Colonel John Bradford, a Maryland planter, donated 100 acres of land to support the church. This land encompasses Rock Creek Cemetery, which began as a burial ground for parishioners.
In the 1830s, the church decided to expand the burial ground to be a public cemetery for the city of Washington. An act of Congress in 1840 established the cemetery as a public burial place.
The cemetery's beautiful, park-like setting is now a place of pilgrimage for people from all over the world, who come to see the remarkable variety of monuments and sculptures and often to visit the renowned Adams Memorial by Augustus St. Gaudens.
Rock Creek Cemetery is open daily
from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
The cemetery office is open from
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Mon - Fri.
Genealogical research
(up to 4 people) $ 25.
Are there any online burial records or books