What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 8am - 6am Sunday 8am - 6am

Congressional Cemetery

Home
United States
Washington D.C., DC
Congressional Cemetery

Call Directions Website

Grounds open dawn to dusk everyday, dog walking by members. Founded in 1807, the cemetery is the final resting place of such notables as John Philip Sousa, J.
(351)

Still an active cemetery with plots available, Congressional Cemetery has been owned by Christ Church since 1807 and has been operated by the nonprofit Historic Congressional Cemetery since 1976. Edgar Hoover, Vice President Elbridge Gerry, William Wirt, General Macomb and Push-ma-ta-ta. But as we say, you don't have to be rich and famous to be buried here, you just have to be dead. Located on Capitol Hill among 35 bucolic acres fronting the Anacostia River.

10/26/2026

Fall themed items are available at our giftshop! Take a little piece of the fall season home with you before we sell out. Items are available in our Gatehouse giftshop and at Soul Strolls!

10/23/2026

Join us for an extraordinary celebration of Día de los Mu***os at Historic Congressional Cemetery.

In collaboration with special guest and Capitol Hill resident, Rosa Moreno, and Death Doula-in-Residence, Laura Lyster-Mensh, we will transform the chapel in the center of our grounds into a place of learning, remembrance, community gathering, and celebration of the “Day of the Dead.”

Everyone is welcome to bring of departed loved ones, some of their favorite foods, mementos, flowers (fresh or dried), and/or other cherished artifacts from their lives. You can also make something on site during the event. We will have a variety of hands-on crafts and activities for all ages, including decorating sugar skulls and crafting paper flowers. You can add your creations to the ofrenda during the event and take them home afterward as a keepsake.

Special thanks to HCC's Green Team for planting marigolds for the event. They are budding now and will be ready for Día de los Mu***os! This is the second year that our grounds crew and volunteers have grown and harvested marigolds from the cemetery to support our mission of environmental stewardship.

In celebrating the people and things they loved, we will share stories about those who are gone, learn about the traditions of Día de los Mu***os and similar customs around the world, and join the community around remembrance and celebration.

You can find the link for more details in our Linktree.

***os

10/22/2026

Exciting update on our progress for our Fall 2026 Wish List so far! Thanks to our amazing community, we have reached our first three goals and made great progress towards a few more. Each of our Wish List items has been carefully chosen for maximum impact on the well-being and care of our beloved grounds, visitors, and staff. Swipe through to see the details, and if you’d like to help us reach more of our goals this fall, please donate at the link in our bio.

10/20/2026

November's Tombs and Tomes pick is The Secret Life of a Cemetery: The Wild Nature and Enchanting Lore of Père Lachaise by Benoît Gallot. Join us either in person, or virtual!

In his debut memoir, Gallot, head curator of Père Lachaise and son of a grave stonemason, pulls back the curtains on his otherworldly workplace—a cemetery crammed with tourists in the high season and mourners year-round, but also a natural paradise, where foxes roam, birds flit between trees, and wildflowers and moss encroach onto tombstones. In elegant, engrossing chapters, Gallot reveals the secret world of Père Lachaise—its Napoleonic origins, its unusual graves and monuments—alongside touching stories from his working life in the cemetery.

See you all at Congressional Cemetery on November 10th from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm inside our historic chapel for an engaging discussion on this illuminating history and deeply personal memoir.

Can't make it? Join on Zoom on November 11th, for our Virtual Tombs & Tomes!

As always, our Tombs and Tomes book club is free to join and mostly free to attend. For each in-person meeting, we simply ask that you bring either a $5 donation or a bit of food or drink to share with the group.

We look forward to exploring this journey with you. Bring your thoughts, questions, and curiosity!

10/17/2026

The White House is often dubbed “The People’s House,” yet we rarely stop to celebrate the everyday people who make the White House function: the various butlers, gardeners, chefs, and other non-partisan workers known collectively as the Residence Staff.

In Congressional Cemetery's final Speaker Series event of 2026, Dr. Matthew Goetz, senior historian at the White House Historical Association, will provide a brief history of the White House Residence Staff from 1789 to the present and share some of the lesser-known stories of workers who not only witnessed history but helped make it.

This Speaker Series event will begin in the Congressional Cemetery chapel on Saturday, November 14th at 11 a.m. The presentation and Q&A are expected to last 45 minutes. That will be followed by a 45-minute walking tour where visitors will learn about some of the individual Residence Staff members buried at Historic Congressional Cemetery.

Tickets are $10 and all proceeds go to benefitting the cemetery's non-profit mission of historical preservation and education. Space is limited so be sure to reserve your spot today! Tickets are available for purchase here: https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/congressionalcemetery/speaker-series-the-people-behind-the-peoples-house

10/13/2026

Thank you to all the amazing participants of our Dead Man's Run 2026! We had a blast welcoming everyone and admiring the great costumes. We want to thank our amazing team of volunteers. Their hard work and enthusiasm are a huge part of what makes our events special. We hope everyone had a great time, and we can't wait to scare you next year!

Race results can be viewed here: https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/Overview/98847

A special thanks goes to our sponsors:
- Congressional Champion

Thank you to for keeping up the spooky music vibes!

Photography by Vincent Vassall

10/12/2026

Thank you to everyone who attended yesterday's American Indian special topic tour. Congressional Cemetery is the final resting place of numerous delegates from sovereign tribal nations who came to Washington, DC in the 1800s to advocate for their peoples. Yesterday's tour stopped at the final resting places of many of these delegates, such as Waub-O-Jeag of the Chippewa, Ut-Sin-Malikan of the Nez Perce, and William Shorey Coodey of the Cherokee. Attendees left stones on their grave markers as tokens of tribute and remembrance.

10/08/2026

Each September, we remember those we’ve lost to su***de, and come together with messages of hope for Su***de Prevention Awareness Month. In 2023, when the first Big Chair painting commissions were organized, artist Heather Anderson ( on instagram) was one of the first to design and dedicate her work to su***de prevention. Now in her fourth year, she reflects on the series and shares the stories of their creation.

Come learn about the chair's message by visiting us at Congressional Cemetery, or by reading about it on our blog at the link in our bio. We invite you to view the Big Chair and to join us in supporting su***de prevention efforts or simply checking in on someone who may need to hear: You Belong Here.

If you’re in crisis, you are not alone. Call or text 988 to connect with the Su***de & Crisis Lifeline at any time, or text TALK to 741741.

***dePreventionMonth ***dePrevention

10/07/2026

The first reds of fall are starting a appear at HCC! Keep an eye out for all the changing colors this season. 🍂🍁

10/06/2026

On October 1, 1879, 74-year-old Italian artist Constantino Brumidi was about 60 feet high in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, painting the “Frieze of American History” that now wraps around the room. According to a Washington Post reporter who interviewed Brumidi later that evening, “He was seated in his well-known chair, perched upon the second stage of his platform, and leaning over to give a finishing touch to a figure which was almost out of reach, his chair slipped off and turned over.” According to a petition written in the third person by Brumidi, he managed to grab hold of a ladder rung and “remained suspended by the strength of his arms for the space of fifteen minutes[.]”

Whether the length of time was accurate or not, Brumidi was eventually saved from falling from the platform by Capitol Police Officer H.H. Lemon, as was initially reported. On October 6th, a letter to the editor of the Washington Post titled “A Praiseworthy Act” added that George McCauley, a Capitol guide, had been omitted from the paper’s prior account of the rescue. “This gentleman,” relayed the submitter, “went from the floor of the rotunda, risked his own life in passing around three of the pillars on their narrow ledges in time to assist Mr. Lamon [sic], who was nearly exhausted at the moment, in his efforts to save the painter. Both gentlemen acted most heroically, and to both should praise be given.”

The two gentlemen, Officer H.H. Lemon and Capitol guide George McCauley, are interred residents of Congressional Cemetery. Lemon died in March 1905 and is buried in Range 74, Site 314. McCauley died in November 1937 and was buried in a family plot in Range 97, Site 152. His name is not inscribed on the monument in the plot.

Address

1801 E Street SE
Washington D.C., DC
20003

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	8am - 6am
Sunday	8am - 6am

Telephone

+12025430539

Website

https://www.congressionalcemetery.org/, https://linktr.ee/congcemetery?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Congressional Cemetery posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your organization to be the top-listed government service in Washington D.C.?