My Visit to Mount Zion Cemetery

Lucky enough for me I live in the Washington metropolitan area and was able to visit the site myself. As soon as I drove onto 26th street I started keeping an eye  out for the cemetery thinking it would be easily identified, I was proven wrong when I drove right past it and had to loop back around. This was the first sign to me that the cemetery had been neglected, there was no sign to indicate from the street where the cemetery was located. After turning around and being thankful that I had a GPS I found the cemetery, the only thing indicating the important location was there is a medium sized white sign. After parking my car I began walking towards the entrance, I look to my right expecting to see a large collection of headstones but all I see are one or two large monuments. This was my second indication that the cemetery had been neglected.

Credit: Helen Macnamara, 2019

Once I entered I began to see gravestones, some still standing but most have fallen over and many are broken into multiple pieces. As I walked through the cemetery it only got worse, grass and tree roots had taken over many of the grave sites. Few of the tombstones were legible and ones that I could read were few and far between. It was obvious that the cemetery still meant a great deal to the community due to some of the graves having fake flowers and dedications in front of the grave stones. There was no clear path through the cemetery and it was hard to tell if I was walking over graves or not, I got a chill as I walked through scared that I was disrespecting the dead and walking on their graves. I can only hope that my interest in the location will deter the possible spirits that I upset. What was most unsettling was the view of the neighboring Oak Hill Cemetery, a  predominantly white cemetery that originated around the same time as Mount Zion but it was in perfect condition. There was fencing all around it and I could see paved walkways and well manicured lawns. It was obvious that the Oak Hill Cemetery had been the priority for the local governing body for years and it was sad to see that its neighbor Mount Zion had not received the same care. Many of the reasons as to why I believe there is such a stark difference between the two can be pieced together from my blog post on "Life in Georgetown".

Credit: Helen Macnamara, 2019

 I left the graveyard sad after seeing the neglect with my own eyes but still hopeful because of the research I had done and the knowledge I had that I was not the only one who believed this site deserved better. If you are ever in the DC area and want to visit a location that your normal tourist would probably never see than you should definitely visit the cemetery, you can call the Mt. Zion Church at 202-234-0148 to schedule a tour of the cemetery.