Description:
Like many cemeteries in the nineteenth Century, Congressional Cemetery served as a park for city dwellers. Visitors are encouraged to stroll and enjoy a quiet hour or two - as others have done since 1807. You will find:
"[a] burying ground beautifully situated on the banks of the Eastern Branch ? with the noble range of forest-clad hills on the opposite side of the beautiful expanse of water" (Morrison's Strangers Guide and Etiquette for Washington City and its Vicinity, 1862).
Congressional Cemetery provides one of the few landscapes in the Nation's Capitol that, by a kindness of fate, corresponds to those described by Victorian travelers. You will find, as a Philadelphian found in 1884, that the cemetery is:
"singularly attractive? A truly lovely spot for that long, long sleep which awaits each mortal, and also a beautiful calm retreat? away from the noise, bustle and weariness of the city". (Mrs. Jane Gemmill, Notes on Washington).
An historic place?an evocative place?a place to trace the growth of the nation's Federal and local institutions in the lives and actions of individual men and woman.
Hours: Office/Library: 10:00 - 2:00 Mon, Wed & Fri
9:00 - 1:00 Sat
or by appointment.
Grounds: Gates Close at Dusk