Rock Creek Church Yard and Cemetery
This polygonal cemetery is the oldest public burial ground within the District of Columbia.
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With graves dating back to the early 1770s, and pre-revolution burials, the Rock Creek Church Yard is a unique landscape in the District. With a variety of headstones, inscriptions, and decorative grave markers, the cemetery tells the stories of the earliest residents of the land that would become Washington, DC in 1791.
Rock Creek Church Yard & Cemetery is notable, not only for its age, but also as the resting place for numerous historically significant individuals. From diplomats to the city’s early politicians, and from business owners to community leaders, the graves of Rock Creek represent the timeline and evolution of Washington.
DC Inventory: January 21, 1977
National Register: August 12, 1977 (Amendment on March 24, 2010)
