Oak Hill Cemetery is a historic 22-acre (9-ha) cemetery and botanical garden located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It includes the Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel and Van Ness Mausoleum which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Oak Hill began in 1848 as part of the rural cemetery movement, directly inspired by the success of Mount Auburn Cemetery, when William Wilson Corcoran (also founder of the Corcoran Gallery...
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Oak Hill Cemetery is a historic 22-acre (9-ha) cemetery and botanical garden located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It includes the Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel and Van Ness Mausoleum which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Oak Hill began in 1848 as part of the rural cemetery movement, directly inspired by the success of Mount Auburn Cemetery, when William Wilson Corcoran (also founder of the Corcoran Gallery of Art) purchased 15 acres (6 ha) of land. He then organized the Cemetery Company to oversee Oak Hill; it was incorporated by act of Congress on March 3, 1849.
Oak Hill's chapel was built in 1849 by noted architect James Renwick, who also designed the Smithsonian Institution's Castle on Washington Mall and St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. His one story rectangular chapel measures 23 by 41 feet (7×12 m) and sits on the cemetery's highest ridge. It is built of black granite, in a handsome but restrained Gothic Revival style, with exterior...
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