The Presbyterian Cemetery and Columbarium
600 Hamilton Ln., Alexandria, VA 22314
This historic cemetery, established in 1809, is still active today. Burials occur on a regular basis, and plots and columbarium niches are available for purchase. The cemetery operates as an independent entity overseen by the Presbyterian Cemetery Board under the authority of the Session of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, 321 South Fairfax St., Alexandria, VA. And, while preference is given to members of the Presbyterian denomination, anyone can be buried in the cemetery, as long as the burial is conducted with dignity and respect.
To learn more about the Presbyterian Cemetery and Columbarium, please contact Cemetery Superintendent David Heiby at cemetery@opmh.org or by phone at (703) 869-0872, Monday–Friday between 9 am and 5 pm. For more information on the Meeting House, please visit opmh.org.
Access
While access to the cemetery is currently restricted, it is open most Saturdays and by appointment. Please contact Superintendent Heiby for more information.
Directions to the Presbyterian Cemetery from the Old Presbyterian Meeting House at 321 South Fairfax Street
- Head south on S. Fairfax St.
- Turn right onto Gibbon St.
- Continue to the end of Gibbon and turn right onto S. Payne St.
- Turn left onto Wilkes St.
- At the sign, turn left onto Hamilton Lane. and follow it to the second cemetery gate.
History
The Presbyterian Cemetery, a seven-acre burial ground located on Hamilton Lane one mile west of the Meeting House, was established by the congregation in 1809. Prior to that date, congregation members were interred in the churchyard burial ground.
The Presbyterian Cemetery was created in response to a yellow fever epidemic that swept through Alexandria in 1803, killed hundreds of citizens, and overwhelmed the town and church burial grounds.
In 1804, The Common Council passed an ordinance forbidding the sale of any additional burial plots within the town limits after March of that year and then passed a subsequent ordinance in 1809 banning all burials within the town limits.
When founded, the location of the cemetery was open countryside in Fairfax County, just across the boundary line between the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia, of which Alexandria was then a part. Later annexed and now part of the City of Alexandria, the cemetery is located in the historic and active Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, which includes 13 cemeteries within its 80 acres.
- For more information on the history of the Presbyterian Cemetery and Columbarium, click here.
- For more information on the historic cemeteries of Alexandria, click here.
