Thousands of stories rest here. We are at the historic Mount Zion Community Cemetery and Female Union Band Society burial grounds. These grounds are among the oldest Black Ancestry cemeteries in Washington DC. They physically remind us of the heritage and contributions of enslaved Africans. Their descendants and free Black people made sacrifices during their lives. They also provide insight into their families during segregation.
Together, these are the only cemeteries left in the District. They were specifically for the burial of enslaved and formerly enslaved people. They are among the few Black history landmarks remaining in Georgetown. In the late nineteenth century, 35 to 45 percent of the population was of African ancestry.
Before these grounds existed, the land belonged to the Patawomeke and Nacotchtan people. The Nacotchtan lived within the greater Piscataway tribe for over 2000 years.
These burial grounds are a memorial park. They promote unity, appreciation, and education. This tour introduces you to our two cemeteries. You will meet some individuals for whom this sanctuary is their final resting place.
The cemeteries are private property sanctuaries. Thousands of burial sites exist throughout the open, wooded, and hillside areas. Most do not have a headstone or marker. The memorials are fragile. Please do not walk on memorials or make rubbings of stone engravings. Dogs are not permitted.
The tour begins at the Cemeteries’ National Register of Historic Places plaque. It is at the junction of 27th Street and Mill Road NW. The two cemeteries are adjacent but separate. They comprise roughly equal-sized halves of the three-acre grounds. The park-like spaces and wooded hillsides are the final resting place for thousands. They lived and worked in Georgetown and greater Washington DC from the 1700s to 1950. Though the cemeteries have unique histories, they connect through intertwined lives. Enslaved, freed, and free Black persons are buried here. Also, early white European settlers and their descendants.
Black Georgetown provided skilled craftsmen and laborers. They helped create the grounds and many structures of Washington. It was a fully formed community. The 1874 edition of Boyd’s Georgetown Business Directory describes over 100 occupations held by Black citizens. Mount Zion Methodist Church member death records confirm this. They reveal extensive participation in daily life.
The Female Union Band Society FUBS Cemetery lies before you. Its open plateau, hillside, and sloped grounds are all burial grounds. Mount Zion Community Cemetery adjoins the FUBS Cemetery. It contains the Old Methodist Burying Ground.
In 1842, formerly enslaved Black women led by Mary Turner founded the Female Union Band Society. The Society’s constitution defines it as a cooperative benevolent association. Members pledged to assist one another in sickness and death. In exchange for membership and dues, the organization provided $2 per week when ill. It also provided a grave and $20 for burial expenses upon death. Membership was restricted to women of good moral character. They needed to be recommended by two members. Members could be expelled for immoral practices or not paying dues.
The Society acquired this property to provide graves for its members. Black women were not legally permitted to own property. Joseph Mason purchased the land in trust for the Society in 1842.
Research has identified 592 surviving grave and monument stone artifacts. Mount Zion Methodist Church death records identify 2769 persons buried in the Mount Zion Community Cemetery from 1863-1931. Health Office records show 6313 burials from 1880-1930 in both cemeteries.
A dedicated team has consolidated research into a database. It contains 4000 records with birth, family, address, occupation, enslavement, military service, death, and burial information.
Burial plots for enslaved people may not have had formal markers. Graves may have had ballast stones, flowers, or saplings. Another tradition was to adorn graves with meaningful articles. Given the early 1800s origin of the oldest burial areas, grave markers for the earliest interred were made of wood, sandstone, or concrete. Some older surviving stone artifacts were fashioned from Virginia bluestone.
As you leave, remember the thousands who rest here. Their lives shaped Georgetown and Washington DC. Their stories echo through these grounds.