Gravestone Stories · Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria History Research & Resources
Original research, interactive maps, and interpretive materials developed by independent historian David Heiby — a digital archive of Alexandria’s historic burial grounds built from original work since 2012.
Find What You’re Looking For
This page is a gateway to original research begun in 2012. Choose the path that best describes why you’re here.
I’m Researching a Family Member
Looking for burial records, biographical details, or documentation of an ancestor connected to Alexandria’s cemeteries.
I’m Planning a Visit to Alexandria
Looking for tour information, self-guided walking materials, or directions to Alexandria’s historic cemeteries.
- Tour Information & FAQ
- Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex Walking Tour (Guided, 90 Minutes)
- Self-Guided Walking Map
- Free Walking Tour Guides & Brochures
- New: A Guide to Alexandria’s Historic Cemeteries & Burial Grounds ($5)
- E-Book Editions to Take With You
- Interactive Cemetery Locations Map
- Book a Guided Tour on Viator
- Gravestone Stories on Visit Alexandria
I’m Exploring Alexandria’s Military History
Looking for documented patriots, War of 1812 veterans, Washington’s inner circle, or Alexandria’s role in the founding of the nation.
I’m Conducting Scholarly Research
Looking for documented burial registries, cemetery histories, downloadable plot maps, or the City and library collections behind the research.
- Verified Revolutionary War Burial Registry
- War of 1812 Veterans Registry — 59 Documented Burials
- The Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex: A History
- Plot Map of the Presbyterian Cemetery (PDF)
- Alexandria Archaeology Bibliography — City Reports & Studies
- Alexandria Library Local History & Special Collections
I’m Planning a Field Trip or Lesson
Looking for classroom-ready materials, printable walking guides, or America 250 teaching resources built on documented local history.
I’m Researching a Story or Looking for an Expert
Looking for a historian to interview, background on an Alexandria burial or anniversary, or a record of past coverage and talks.
A Guide to Alexandria’s Historic Cemeteries & Burial Grounds
A Guide to Alexandria’s Historic Cemeteries & Burial Grounds brings the larger Gravestone Stories archive together in one 29-page illustrated volume. Explore Alexandria’s 37 documented burial grounds, the thirteen cemeteries of the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, a timeline of burial in the city, African American burial grounds, notable lives, gravestone symbolism, visitor information, and a detailed map of the Wilkes Street complex.
The research throughout Gravestone Stories remains free. This e-book provides a convenient, curated companion for readers who want the larger story gathered together in one volume.
This research contributes to Alexandria’s America 250 commemoration, connecting visitors and scholars to the city’s Revolutionary foundations through the individuals who made independence possible.
Alexandria’s 162 Revolutionary War Patriots
162 documented Revolutionary War burials — nearly three times the count in the 2001 JLARC report, which omitted the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex entirely.
Alexandria’s 162 Revolutionary War Patriots — Verified Burial Registry
162 documented patriots across 13 historic burial grounds — including Washington’s pallbearers, the first man to address him as “Mr. President,” two Boston Tea Party participants, and scores of soldiers, merchants, and civic leaders who built the young republic. Includes a fully searchable database, cemetery-by-cemetery breakdown, and profiles of the most historically significant figures.
View the Complete Registry of Alexandria’s 162 Revolutionary War Patriots →Alexandria’s War of 1812 Veterans — 59 Documented Burials
59 War of 1812 veterans buried across eight historic Alexandria cemeteries — including soldiers killed at the Battle of the White House, a naval hero awarded a Congressional Silver Medal aboard the USS Hornet, and William Gregory, the last surviving member of the Alexandria Blues who outlived every fellow veteran of the Battle of the White House, dying in 1875. Includes a fully searchable database, six featured profiles, and a free tri-fold research guide to all 59 burials.
View the War of 1812 Veterans Registry →George Washington’s Funeral: The Mourners Buried in Alexandria
A documented account of the pallbearers, mourners, and inner-circle figures who attended Washington’s December 1799 funeral procession — and where they rest today in Alexandria’s historic cemeteries. Drawn from period newspapers, church records, and family papers.
Read the Research →Alexandria’s Notable Burials — Nearly 400 Documented Lives Across 16 Cemeteries
The complete biographical hub for Alexandria’s historic burial grounds — nearly 400 documented individuals spanning Revolutionary War patriots, Civil War soldiers, Cold War figures, and the extraordinary lives that shaped American history. Organized by cemetery, with profiles drawn from a decade of original archival research.
Explore the Biographical Archive →Alexandria History Timeline
More than 130 documented entries tracing Alexandria’s story from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the present — the essential backdrop for understanding who is buried here, why it matters, and how the city’s history connects to the national story.
Colonial & Revolutionary Alexandria
From the founding of Jamestown in 1607 through Alexandria’s own 1749 establishment, the Revolution, and the early republic — the decades that produced the patriots buried across Alexandria’s oldest cemeteries.
Antebellum, Civil War & Reconstruction
Alexandria’s transformation from slaveholding port city to Union-occupied hospital town — and the soldiers, civilians, and figures from both sides buried in its cemeteries.
Gilded Age Through the 20th Century
Cold War spies, NASA pioneers, Victorian civic leaders, and the forgotten figures of Alexandria’s modern chapters — all documented in a living timeline that extends to the present day.
Interactive Cemetery Maps
Five georeferenced maps placing Alexandria’s buried history against its living landscape — from biography pins across the Wilkes Street Complex to African American heritage sites, fallen firefighters, Lee-Fendall House connections, and all 37 of Alexandria’s documented historic burial grounds.
Interactive Biography Map
50+ extraordinary lives pinned across Alexandria’s historic cemeteries — each marker links directly to a full documented biography.
Alexandria’s African American Heritage
An interactive journey through Alexandria’s African American history as preserved in its historic burial grounds — from the enslaved Alexandrians of the antebellum era to the U.S. Colored Troops of the Civil War and beyond.
Fallen Firefighters of Alexandria
An interactive map documenting Alexandria’s firefighters who died in the line of duty — including the city’s first volunteer firefighter killed on duty in 1852, identified through original Gravestone Stories research. A free tri-fold guide to all 29 burials is available on the map page.
Lee-Fendall House Cemetery Connections
An interactive map tracing the cemetery connections of individuals linked to the Lee-Fendall House across Alexandria’s burial grounds. A dual-purpose resource for docents and visitors.
Interactive Cemetery Map: All 37 Burial Grounds
Every documented historic cemetery in Alexandria plotted on a single interactive map — all 37 burial grounds, from the 13 cemeteries of the Wilkes Street Complex to the family cemeteries of Fairfax County.
Scholarly Resources & Reference Materials
Original scholarship, historical context, symbolism guides, self-guided brochures, downloadable maps, and cemetery directories — the research behind Gravestone Stories, gathered in one place.
Historic Background
Symbolism & Traditions
E-Book Editions
- New: A Guide to Alexandria’s Historic Cemeteries & Burial Grounds — The Essential Introduction (29-page PDF · $5+, Pay What You Want)
- Revolutionary War Patriots Buried in Alexandria (42-page PDF · $9)
- The Old Presbyterian Meeting House Burial Ground (53-page PDF · $9)
- Faith & Burial in Early Alexandria: How Church and Conscience Shaped the City’s Burial Grounds (38-page PDF · $9)
- War of 1812 Veterans Buried in Alexandria (20-page PDF · $9)
- Alexandria National Cemetery: Civil War & USCT Heroes (55-page PDF · $9)
- The Presbyterian Cemetery: Lives Behind the Stones (131-page PDF · $12)
- The Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex: A Walking Companion (29-page PDF · $15)
- St. Paul’s Episcopal Cemetery: Lives Behind the Stones (29-page PDF · $9)
- Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery: Lives Behind the Stones (51-page PDF · $9)
Brochures & Self-Guided Tours
America 250
- Among the Founders: Revolutionary War Patriots Buried in Alexandria — Research & Lecture Guide
- War of 1812 Buried in the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex — Research Guide (59-name roster by burial ground)
- Lectures & Programs — Book the “Among the Founders” Presentation
Downloadable Maps
Walking Tours
- The Gravestone Stories Tour Brochure — All Four Walking Tours
- Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex Walking Tour — Historian-Led, 90 Minutes
- Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex Self-Guided Walking Map
- Walking Tour of Alexandria National Cemetery — Self-Guided Guide with Route Map
- Rebellious Scoundrels: The Patriots of Alexandria’s Old Presbyterian Meeting House
- From Enslavement to Justice: How African Americans Forced Change in Alexandria
- The Cemetery Stories of the Lee-Fendall House: A Guided Tour in Alexandria
Key Cemetery Guides
Published Work & Recognition
More Alexandria History Online
- Alexandria Historical SocietyLectures, publications, and preservation advocacy for Alexandria’s history.
- Alexandria Historical Society Digital MuseumOnline exhibits and digitized materials from the Society’s collections.
- Office of Historic AlexandriaThe City’s history office — gateway to Alexandria’s municipal museums and historic sites.
- Alexandria Archaeology BibliographyThe City’s comprehensive listing of archaeological, historical, and architectural reports on Alexandria — many downloadable as PDFs, including studies of the Wilkes Street cemeteries and Freedmen’s Cemetery.
- City Hall and Market Square Block: Documentary StudyThe Office of Historic Alexandria’s 2026 study of the block at the center of the city since 1749. Includes Greg Beaman’s full report, Alexandria City Hall, Market Square, and Slavery, and a collection of StoryMaps tracing the owners, occupants, and buildings of the block and its history as a landscape of slavery.
- Contrabands & Freedmen Cemetery MemorialResting place of freedom-seeking African Americans during the Civil War — their story connects to the USCT burials in the Alexandria National Cemetery.
- Friends of Freedmen’s CemeteryResearch site for the Freedmen’s Cemetery — includes the surviving burial list of the roughly 1,700 interred and genealogical resources for descendants, among them Tim Dennee’s compilations of Alexandria manumission records, the 1865 African American census, and the 1858 Register of Free Negroes.
- Freedom House MuseumMuseum at the former Franklin & Armfield slave-trading site on Duke Street — a story interpreted on our African American history tour.
- Lee-Fendall House Museum & GardenHistoric house museum on Oronoco Street — see the Lee-Fendall Cemetery Connections map above.
- Alexandria Library Local History & Special CollectionsPrimary sources, newspapers, and genealogy files at the Barrett Branch.
- Presbyterian Cemetery & Columbarium Burial Records (Discover Everafter)The cemetery’s official, continually updated interment records — searchable burials, a veterans list, and a 3D plot map, published through its PlotBox records-management system.
- Find A GraveA crowdsourced finding aid for memorials, photographs, and plot locations — a valuable starting point rather than a source of record; several entries in this site’s registries correct errors that persist there.
The Stories Don’t End on the Page
Gravestone Stories is dedicated to documenting, interpreting, and sharing the stories of those laid to rest in Alexandria’s historic cemeteries. These resources are continually updated as new research, mapping, and archival discoveries emerge. The best way to experience them is to walk the ground in person.
Alexandria, Virginia · A Public History Project by David Heiby
Page last updated: September 2026