Lush landscape, breathtaking sculptures and notable history combine to make Rock Creek Cemetery the

most beautiful and evocative public cemetery in the nation’s capital.

Dating from 1719, the Cemetery is also Washington’s oldest cemetery and was designed as part of the rural cemetery movement first advocated by the architect Sir Christopher Wren in 1711. The burial ground in the churchyard’s urban space, with its natural 86-acre rolling landscape, functions as both cemetery and public park. This, the Cemetery’s famous residents, and stunning variety of sculptures and monuments make Rock Creek Cemetery a place of pilgrimage for people of all faiths.

Owned by the governing body of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Rock Creek Parish — the only surviving colonial church in Washington, D.C. — the Cemetery is part of 100 acres of land donated by Colonel John Bradford in 1719. In 1840, an Act of Congress designated the grounds as a public cemetery for the city of Washington.

Early in the 20th century, the Church sold off 14 of the original 100 acres to accommodate construction of New Hampshire Avenue, leaving the remaining 86-acre churchyard for use of the Parish. Although Rock Creek Cemetery remains under the stewardship of St. Paul’s Church, the burial grounds are nondenominational and open to all.

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