| Cemetery Description: |
HOME OF PEACE CEMETERY
BETH EL CONGREGATION - ALEXANDRIA, VA
Home of Peace is the earliest Jewish cemetery in Alexandria, VA, which has had a Jewish population since the 1830s.
In 1857, a Hebrew Benevolent Society was established to provide for a burying ground. Several parcels of adjoining land were added to enlarge the cemetery. Two Alexandria mayors are buried here. A gate that marks the west entry of Section A is inscribed with the years 1858-1896; the first year of which commemorates establishment of the Hebrew Benevolent Society in Alexandria.
A newspaper article claims without proof that the cemetery opened on July 5, 1858 and that it later contained about thirteen unmarked graves of soldiers, who died in Alexandria during the Civil War. Despite this, Fairfax County land records show that on September 1, 1860, trustees of the Union Cemetery of the Methodist Episcopal Church South purchased a parcel.
After assigning gravesite numbers, the M.E. Church South, by October 9, 1860, conveyed gravesites 14 to 18 and 32 to 36 in the northeast corner to the Hebrew Benevolent Society to start Home of Peace cemetery. The next conveyance of adjacent gravesites 9 to 13 and 27 to 31 was made on January 20, 1864. A subsequent one was made for the northern bounds of Section A on January 15, 1894. A small portion known as Section B was conveyed on January 21, 1911. Additions were made in 1927 and 1929 and comprise what is known as Section C. Used by Beth El Hebrew Congregation, Alexandria, VA. |
