Cemeteries of Alexandria
The Ultimate Directory
Exploring the final resting places of Alexandria’s past — from the 18th-century burial grounds of Old Town to lost family cemeteries hidden beneath modern development.
The cemeteries of Alexandria stand as powerful testaments to the city’s rich history and diverse heritage. These burial grounds, some dating back to the 18th century, hold the stories of Revolutionary War heroes, Civil War soldiers, religious leaders, and civic pioneers. From the historic cemeteries of Old Town to the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, these sites offer a unique window into Alexandria’s past.
This directory highlights the documented cemeteries of Alexandria, providing names, locations, and contact information. Some burial sites have been lost to time and development, while others have undergone disinterments and reburials in established cemeteries such as Ivy Hill Cemetery.
The Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex
Located in Old Town Alexandria, the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex consists of 13 distinct cemeteries within a single walkable landscape — regarded as the most historic cluster of cemeteries in the United States, with over 35,000 total burials across 52 acres of consecrated ground.
Presbyterian Cemetery & Columbarium
Founded in 1809, Presbyterian Cemetery holds over 2,500 burials, including many descendants of Alexandria’s 1749 founders. With more available burial space than any other cemetery within the city, it remains active today. The cemetery is the final resting place of prominent citizens, ministers, and military veterans, including those who served in the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
Explore Notable Burials →Penny Hill Cemetery
Alexandria’s public cemetery for nearly 180 years, primarily used for pauper burials. One hundred twenty victims of Alexandria’s 1803 Yellow Fever Epidemic are buried here, along with many early Civil War Contrabands and the lynching victims Joseph McCoy (1897) and Benjamin Thomas (1899).
Explore Notable Burials →Christ Church Cemetery
Final resting place of descendants of Richard Henry Lee, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Revolutionary War soldiers including Major Samuel Cooper, who participated in the Boston Tea Party. His son, General Samuel Cooper, C.S.A., was the highest-ranking Confederate general in the Civil War. Many members of the Mason and Lee families are also buried here.
Explore Notable Burials →St. Paul’s Cemetery
Final resting place of over 1,500 individuals, including the Fairfaxes, Hooffs, and Smoots. The grave of the ‘Female Stranger,’ an enigmatic figure from 1816, continues to intrigue visitors — Alexandria’s most visited grave and its greatest unsolved mystery.
Explore Notable Burials →Trinity Cemetery
The resting place of over 550 individuals, including eight Revolutionary War veterans and a former mayor of Alexandria. The cemetery also honors pioneers from Alexandria’s free Black community.
Explore Notable Burials →Methodist Protestant Cemetery
Established in 1833, the Methodist Protestant Cemetery served as the burial ground for Alexandria’s Methodist Protestant Church after its split from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1828. Now maintained by the City of Alexandria, this inactive cemetery holds around 1,500 interments.
Explore Notable Burials →Home of Peace Cemetery
The oldest Jewish cemetery in Virginia, reflecting the early Jewish community’s presence in the city and preserving Alexandria’s Jewish heritage from the antebellum era forward.
Explore Notable Burials →Union Cemetery
Also known as the Washington Street United Methodist Church Cemetery. Founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church South, Union Cemetery remains an active burial site today.
Explore Notable Burials →Alexandria National Cemetery
One of the nation’s oldest military cemeteries, predating Arlington National Cemetery. Over 4,230 individuals are buried here, including 249 U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) soldiers from the Civil War — the second-oldest national cemetery in the United States.
Explore Notable Burials →Bethel Cemetery
Established in 1885, Bethel Cemetery occupies land once part of Spring Garden Farm.
Explore Notable Burials →Black Baptist Cemetery
Established by the Silver Leaf (Colored) Society of Alexandria, now preserved in the Alexandria African American Heritage Park.
Douglass Cemetery
Served as a burial ground for Alexandria’s African American community until 1976 — an essential chapter in the city’s full history, preserving the legacy of generations who shaped Alexandria.
Explore Notable Burials →Agudas Achim Cemetery
Established by Orthodox Jewish immigrants, later becoming part of Alexandria’s Conservative Jewish community.
Historic Old Town Alexandria
These cemeteries date back to the 18th and 19th centuries and are rich in historical significance, featuring the graves of early settlers, war heroes, and civic leaders.
Old Presbyterian Meeting House 18th-Century Burial Ground
John Carlyle, Rev. James Muir, Dr. James Craik, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Revolutionary War are interred here — among the oldest burial grounds in the city, still an active congregation today.
Explore Notable Burials →Christ Church 18th-Century Burial Ground
Revolutionary War figures and early city leaders rest in this burial ground adjacent to historic Christ Church in Old Town Alexandria.
Explore Notable Burials →Quaker Burial Ground
Once the primary burial site for Alexandria’s Quaker community, it is now the site of the Kate Waller Barrett Library. Of the 159 recorded burials, 66 were reinterred on the property, while others remain in their original plots.
Explore Notable Burials →St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery & Queen of Heaven Columbarium
The oldest Catholic burial ground in Virginia, containing burials of early Catholic families, priests, and prominent Alexandrians.
Explore Notable Burials →Freedmen’s Cemetery
Established as a burial ground for freed and formerly enslaved African Americans, now commemorated as a memorial park honoring their legacy and the struggle for freedom in Alexandria.
Located Elsewhere in Alexandria
Historic burial grounds located beyond Old Town and the Wilkes Street Complex, each with a distinct place in Alexandria’s broader history.
Ivy Hill Cemetery
Established in 1856, Ivy Hill Cemetery spans 22 acres and is the final resting place of Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron — a close friend of George Washington — as well as volunteer firefighters, war veterans, and community leaders. Features a Firefighters Memorial honoring those lost in the 1855 Dowell China Shop fire, and rare protected flora and fauna.
Explore Notable Burials →Virginia Theological Seminary Cemetery
Part of the Episcopal Virginia Theological Seminary, founded in 1823. During the Civil War the seminary served as Fairfax Seminary Hospital, treating 1,700 wounded Federal troops. Two temporary burial sites were created nearby; by war’s end, remains were primarily reburied at Arlington National Cemetery. The active cemetery holds 93 individuals.
Lebanon Union Cemetery
Also known as Landmark Cemetery. Established around 1833 alongside a meetinghouse that served as both church and school. The village was renamed Lincolnia after the Civil War in honor of Abraham Lincoln. Annexation in the early 1950s placed the cemetery within Alexandria city limits.
Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery & Burials at “The Fort”
A cemetery associated with a post-Civil War African American community at Fort Ward. Includes burials of the Shorts-McKnight-Javins family, midwife Mollie Nelson, and the Johnson brothers, whose deaths contributed to the desegregation of public pools in the 1950s. Archaeological investigations identified at least 38 probable burials.
Lost, Hidden & Family Burial Grounds
Exploring forgotten resting places and archaeological discoveries across Alexandria.
Auld Family Cemetery
Burial ground for the Auld and Gregory families on the Strathblane estate. A single black granite obelisk remained standing as recently as the 1990s. Descendants of the Gregory family are interred in Alexandria’s Presbyterian Cemetery.
Bloxham Family Cemetery
A small privately established burial ground created on the farm of English immigrants James and Mary Bloxham in the Taylor Run neighborhood. Archaeological investigations in 1990 and 2004 confirmed at least twelve grave shafts. A footstone marked “W.H.W.” was recovered. Note: This site is sometimes mistakenly identified as Shuter’s Hill Cemetery — the two are entirely separate locations.
Colross Plantation Family Cemetery
Originally located on the grounds of the Colross estate, this burial site was identified through archaeological work that uncovered a brick burial vault. Known burials include Thomas Francis Mason, grandson of George Mason, and two daughters, whose remains were later reinterred at Christ Church.
Fairfax Street Burial Ground (Yellow Fever Cemetery)
Established during Alexandria’s devastating 1803 Yellow Fever epidemic. Rev. Dr. James Muir recorded that “about ten” individuals were buried here. The cemetery was largely forgotten until December 15, 1843, when laborers constructing the Alexandria Canal rediscovered the graves near the tide locks along the river.
Fendall Family Cemetery
A private family burial ground once located on the Fendall family’s 15-acre farm near the end of Payne Street. Known burials include Philip Richard Fendall Sr. (1734-1805), Elizabeth Steptoe Lee (d. 1789), and Mary “Mollie” Lee (1827). Remains were likely disinterred and reburied in Section B, Lot 1 at Ivy Hill Cemetery.
Goings Family Cemetery Site
Believed to be the burial place of the Goings family, this site was once part of an African American community in Alexandria. Though no visible graves remain today, archaeological evidence suggests the presence of burials that were likely destroyed or built over during later development.
Jackson Family Cemetery
Represents additional burials associated with the African American “Fort” community at Fort Ward. Discovered through archaeological investigations south of Oakland Cemetery, it forms part of a broader landscape of post-Civil War African American life and burial practices in Alexandria.
Shuter’s Hill Cemetery
A lost cemetery once located on the original summit of Shuter’s Hill, predating 1795, serving Alexandria’s early elite families. Known burials include Anne Lee, daughter of Richard Henry Lee, Flora Lee, Colonel Henry Rozier Dulany, and Benjamin Tasker Delany (also recorded as Dulaney and Dulany; SAR P-150941) — a personal friend of George Washington who presented him with the celebrated horse Blueskin, which Washington rode throughout the Revolution. The Dulany country seat, “Shuter’s Hill,” gave the cemetery its name.
Union forces reportedly removed gravestones during the Civil War for use in a nearby military bakery. The cemetery was cleared in 1923 during construction of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. Note: Shuter’s Hill Cemetery is entirely separate from the Bloxham Family Cemetery, with which it is sometimes confused.
Summers Family Cemetery
A historic family burial ground associated with John Summers, an early landowner credited with constructing one of the first tobacco warehouses on Hunting Creek. Includes John Summers (1688-1790), who lived to approximately 102 years, and Francis Summers (c.1732/33-1800), a Revolutionary War supporter who served as Overseer of the Poor in Fairfax County.
Terrett Family Cemetery
A small private family cemetery enclosed by a wrought iron fence, containing one engraved headstone and one fieldstone. Represents the type of modest family burial grounds once common throughout Alexandria’s rural outskirts.
West Family Cemetery
Final resting place of the West family, early Alexandria founders, rediscovered during pre-development excavation at the Hoffman site. Seven individuals were buried in a brick vault, with additional burials nearby, including one tentatively identified as African American based on burial artifacts. Remains were reinterred following consultation with descendants.
The Stories Don’t End on the Page
Alexandria’s cemeteries preserve the full American story — written in stone.
Many of the most extraordinary stories — and the exact burial sites of long-forgotten figures — have only recently been revealed through ongoing original research. The best way to discover them is to walk the ground in person.
Join a guided tour led by David Heiby, Superintendent of the Presbyterian Cemetery and the only working historian offering tours in this extraordinary landscape.
Only in Alexandria · Only at Wilkes Street Page last updated: March 2026