Mt. Zion-FUBS Cemeteries

History

The three-acre Mount Zion Cemetery/Female Union Band Society Cemetery is composed of two roughly equal-sized halves, the Mount Zion Cemetery on the east and the Female Union Band Society Cemetery on the west, separated along a subtle north-south ridge in the center of the property. The northern and eastern property lines border Rock Creek Park, and the western line follows a ravine along the Twenty-Seventh Street, N.W., right-of-way (an unimproved public road) heading to Rock Creek. Approximately three-quarters of the length of the southern boundary is formed by Mill Road, with the remaining eastern portion of the southern line bordering a private apartment building. Historically called the Old Methodist Burying Ground, the cemetery originated as a churchyard burial ground and subsequently evolved in terms of changing ownership and frequency of use. It was established by the Montgomery Street Methodist Church in 1808, which gathered at the Montgomery Street Meeting House, formerly located on Twenty-Eighth Street between M and Olive Streets, N.W. (formerly Montgomery Street between Bridge and Olive Streets), approximately one-half mile southwest of the cemetery. (visit website to read more)