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All the United States Virginia Alexandria Mount Vernon Slave Cemetery
AO Edited

Mount Vernon Slave Cemetery

The graveyard holding the remains of George Washington's slaves was forgotten for nearly 200 years.

Alexandria, Virginia

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William Davis
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The slave memorial.   Stacey Huggins
Slave graveyard entrance.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Slave graveyard memorial.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
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A place to learn.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Grave to memorialize the slaves of Mount Vernon   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
Slave cemetery information.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Graveyard work.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Cemetery entrance path.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
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Monument   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
Sign   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
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About

For nearly two centuries, the woods at George Washington’s famous estate contained a secret. A graveyard for the former president’s enslaved population lay buried beneath a thicket of vegetation. Removed from the property’s typical tourist spots, the burial ground was all but erased from existence.

A handful of 19th-century accounts briefly mention the overgrown plot of land, but it otherwise remained off-the-beaten-path and overlooked at the historic estate. An 1885 map of Mount Vernon portrays the burial ground, but by this time it was already becoming lost to the woodland’s leafy grasp.

A marble marker was placed on the site in the 1920s, but this too was soon forgotten as it disappeared beneath a tangle of vegetation. It wasn’t until the 1980s, when a group scouring the grounds for information about the slave graveyard stumbled upon the slab of stone, that the cemetery began garnering proper interest and interpretation.

Today, researchers are busy unearthing the cemetery’s past. In 2014, archaeologists began mapping the original cemetery to figure out how many enslaved people were buried beneath its surface. Using drones and other innovative technology, they’ve scanned the earth to reveal its historic secrets. Researchers have found dozens of unmarked burial spots so far and estimate the graveyard may hold the bodies of upwards of 150 enslaved people.

A stone memorial stands nearby to mark the graveyard, surrounded by places to sit. It was erected in 1983 and rises before an archway that leads to the cemetery entrance. Three steps inscribed with the words “faith,” “hope,” and “love” lead to the column.

Related Tags

Slavery Black History Graveyards Cemeteries George Washington Presidents History

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The GPS coordinates lead to the slavery memorial.

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satxwdavis

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grahamgillman24, Kerry Wolfe, Jason Michael Walker

  • grahamgillman24
  • Kerry Wolfe
  • Jason Michael Walker

Published

February 7, 2018

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Sources
  • http://www.mountvernon.org/
  • http://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/archaeology/slave-burial-ground-research/
  • http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/the-slave-memorial-at-mount-vernon/
  • http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/enslaved-burial-ground/
  • http://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/archaeology/slave-burial-ground-research/why-is-archaeology-at-the-cemetery-so-important/
Mount Vernon Slave Cemetery
3200 Mount Vernon Hwy
Mt Vernon
Alexandria, Virginia
United States
38.706101, -77.089058
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