The Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington (JGSGW) joint project with the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington (JHSGW)

Project number: [JOWBR, USA-02281]

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The WASHINGTON HEBREW Cemetery in WASHINTON, D.C.

In 1988, the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington (JGSGW) engaged in a joint project with the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington (JHSGW) to survey the two oldest Jewish cemeteries in the area. The documentation of the burials was published in 1992, but the data was never transferred to the JOWBR format for posting. With the understanding that cemetery burial information is important to genealogist, this posting to JOWBR is from that early survey. JGSGW has begun a new project to validate the data, add subsequent burials, and photograph the gravestones for posting. As the new project progresses the site will be updated.

The oldest Jewish congregation in nation's capital is Washington Hebrew Congregation (WHC), founded in 1852 by a group of German Jews. Though originally Orthodox, the congregation adopted more and more reforms and when in 1869, they voted to order an organ, 35 members split from WHC to form the new Orthodox congregation, Adas Israel. Both congregations exist today and over the decades, they have enjoyed a cordial relationship.

Macpelah was the first cemetery of WHC. It is no longer located at its original site on Hamilton Road. The name comes from the name that Abraham gave to his family's burial site. The oldest grave identified is from July 1851; belonging to Albertne Cohen. In the new location on Alabama Avenue the cemetery is still active and is surrounded at a distance by the newer Washington Hebrew Memorial Cemetery. The layout of Macpelah is irregular, with no clearly defined plots and uneven rows. Some of the earliest graves were re-ordered by date of death when they were moved in the 1870's. Some graves were moved a second time, when Alabama Avenue was widened. Time and water drainage have caused some of the graves on the hillside to sink below ground level completely obscuring them from view and identification. It is known that the hillside graves were mostly children's burial sites.

The old cemetery is located to the right of the cemetery's entrance gates, but since these gates are frequently locked, a visitor may have to enter through the gates to the adjacent Adas Israel cemetery and find their way over to the WHC gate. The cemetery is well maintained. The cemetery office may be reached at (202) 562-1807.