DC is known for respecting our past and honoring the history of the city. While we work hard to honor our buildings and monuments, there is one place in DC that has actually been forgotten. Mount Zion Cemetery is a forgotten cemetery that holds stories of the district’s past.
Mount Zion is located in DC at 27th and Q Street in Georgetown. It was founded in 1808 as The Methodist Cemetery. The cemetery was originally created to be a place to put to rest its congregants and their enslaved workers.
In the 1842, the Female Union Band Society, purchased the west side of the cemetery. The society was a benevolent society of free black women who pledged to assist one another in sickness and in death. Both cemeteries were abandoned in 1950 and today there is no dividing line between the two.
The cemetery has fallen in to disrepair but there have been efforts to restore the cemetery. The cemetery holds great cultural and historical significance.
It is believed that the cemetery was part of the Underground Railroad. There is a small structure where it is assumed that fleeing slaves hid before heading to Rock Creek and following the creek to the Potomac and eventually, Pennsylvania.
It’s estimated that there are 500 to 1,500 people buried in the cemetery but the real numbers will remain a mystery since it’s suspected that many escaped slaves were buried there quickly and in the middle of the night.
There are plans to restore and preserve the cemetery. A new life for Mount Zion will tell an important part of DC’s history and commemorate some of our earliest residents.
