Congressional Cemetery

Hidden Congress: An Alternative Tour of the U.S. Capitol

"The Congressional Cemetery or Washington Parish Burial Ground is a historic yet active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American “cemetery of national memory” founded before the Civil War. Over 65,000 individuals are buried or memorialized at the cemetery, including many who helped form the nation and the city of Washington in the early 19th century. Though the cemetery is privately owned, the U.S. government owns 806 burial plots administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Congress, located about a mile and a half (2.4 km) to the northwest, has greatly influenced the history of the cemetery. The cemetery still sells plots, and is an active burial ground. From the Washington Metro, the cemetery lies three blocks east of the Potomac Avenue station and two blocks south of the Stadium-Armory station. Many members of the U.S. Congress who died while Congress was in session are interred at Congressional Cemetery. Other burials include early landowners and speculators, the builders and architects of early Washington, Native American diplomats, Washington mayors, and Civil War veterans. Nineteenth-century Washington, D.C. families unaffiliated with the federal government also have graves and tombs at the cemetery. A Vice-President, a Supreme Court Justice, six Cabinet members, 19 Senators, and 71 Representatives — including a former Speaker of the House — are buried in the cemetery, along with veterans of every American war and J. Edgar Hoover, the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 23, 1969, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2011." - ATLAS_OBSCURA

"The "National Burying Ground" As you enter Congressional Cemetery's wrought iron gates, you'll encounter over 65,000 graves of architects and builders, musicians and explorers, patriots and scoundrels, pioneers and diplomats, and war veterans whose stories played significant roles yet have been long forgotten in the annals of American history and heritage. Since 1807, it has been the final resting place of individuals like US Marine Band director John Philip Sousa ("The March King"), FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Elbridge Gerry (a signer of the Declaration of Independence), and the first female US Presidential candidate Belva Lockwood. Today, the cemetery is a favorite for dogwalking and other zany activities, with everything from outdoor Monday "Yoga Mortis" sessions and a "Dead Man Run's 5K" to boozy soirees, beer fests, horror movie screenings, and the sounds of marching bands performing "The Stars and Stripes Forever" in front of Sousa's grave during Memorial Day weekend."