The Fairfax County Park Authority will soon begin work to preserve the Peake Family Cemetery located in the Mount Vernon District. This project is part of the Park Authority’s ongoing work to preserve and restore historic cemeteries in Fairfax County.

The restoration of the Peake Family Cemetery, expected to begin by spring 2025, will be overseen by archaeologists with specialized training in cemetery care and will include little to no ground disturbance with the only exception being the resetting of headstones. Work on the site will include gravestone cleaning, setting and repair, addressing landscape issues and conducting a ground-penetrating radar survey of the site to identify potential unmarked burials.

In addition to site restoration, the Park Authority is planning to update the existing interpretive signs at the cemetery and is requesting assistance from the surrounding community and historical organizations. The archaeology team seeks historic records, photographs, and/or family histories, which may help in identifying unmarked graves and contribute to the interpretive history of the site. Potential burials could include members of the Ford, Javins, Brown, Bigsby and Fisher families.

Historic records, photos and histories may be submitted online at the Peake Family Cemetery project website. All materials received will be reviewed by the archaeology team. The researched histories and the results of the ground-penetrating radar survey of the site will inform the narrative and design of interpretive signs later in the year.

For additional project background and information, including a recorded project overview, visit the Peake Family Cemetery project website. The Peake Family Cemetery is located adjacent to Martin Luther King Jr. Park and the Gum Springs Community Center at 8115 Fordson Road in Alexandria.

For additional information, please contact the Public Information Office at Parkmail@fairfaxcounty.gov.