703-534-3881
TTY 711
Elizabeth A. Crowell, Ph.D.,
Archaeology and Collections Branch Manager
In 1977, historian Jane Kirkpatrick-Wall provided as a gift to the Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) a document which transcribed headstones at 100 Fairfax County cemeteries. Staff, volunteers and visitors to the Virginia Room at FCPL continued to add to these documents and have since recorded over 350 individual cemeteries. In 1994, the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County (BOS) requested that the records be updated and made available to researchers. This resulted in the manuscript, “Cemeteries of Fairfax County, Virginia” by Brian Conley, a reference guide and updated survey of some 360 surveys.
The purpose of this work is to create an accurate survey of cemeteries in Fairfax County. This will include updated location information including nearest street address, geographic coordinates and tax-map and parcel number. Furthermore, it will provide information regarding current legal ownership, current caretakers and a general description of the current conditions. Where feasible, headstone transcriptions may be provided, as well as an estimate of any unmarked burials. This information will assist genealogical researchers, staff providing comment for development projects, homeowners and homeowners associations and scholars studying the history of Fairfax County.
Historic cemeteries are some of Fairfax County’s most important and unique cultural resources. They are reminders of settlement patterns, demographic trends, historic events, public health trends, religious beliefs and societal norms. They are warehouses of folk-art spanning from the simple to the inspirational. However, over time many cemeteries, especially small family burial plots and the burials of marginalized groups such as enslaved and free Blacks, Native Americans, the imprisoned and the poor are particularly difficult to research and locate. These cemeteries represent important avenues of scholarship as well as physical reminders of the whole of our history. They are of specific interest to the authors, and additional resources will be spent to document and record those cemeteries that have been abandoned or lost to time.
