Mt. Zion Cemetery’s Day of Blessing and Clean Up

At its annual Day of Blessing and Clean Up, this Saturday, April 8, Georgetown’s historic Mt. Zion Cemetery will have two things to celebrate.

After years of negotiating, the partnership between Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, 1334 29th St. NW, and Dumbarton United Methodist Church, 3133 Dumbarton St. NW, to stabilize the maintenance of the cemetery, founded in 1808 at the top of 26th Street, was finalized early in March. In addition, Dumbarton United transferred the cemetery’s deed of ownership to the predominantly African American Mt. Zion.

Members of both congregations are buried there. However, after a split in the mid 1800s, the cemetery was primarily used by the African American community — until its abandonment in the 1950s. Though the cemetery was named a National Historic Landmark in 1975, restoration did not begin until the 1990s.

The Blessing and Clean Up event will begin with a “Blessing of the Work Day” at 9 a.m. Lunch, provided by Jaco Juice & Taco Bar, and the Cemetery History Discussion Group will follow at 11:30 a.m.; the event will end at 3 p.m. Georgetown Visitation School’s Father and Daughter Committee will be helping out.