Mount Zion Cemetery itself, named for the city’s oldest black congregation, Mount Zion United Methodist Church, but founded in 1808 by a white church in need of a place to put to rest its congregants and their enslaved workers. To the west lies what is called the Female Union Band Society Cemetery, which was founded in 1842 by a benevolent society of free black women. Today, despite different ownership, the cemeteries are managed as one and frequently referred to collectively as Mount Zion. The cemetery was probably part of the Underground Railroad. Fleeing slaves are thought to have hidden in a squat brick structure built into the side of a hill, which during the winter held corpses awaiting burial after the spring thaw. From there, escaping slaves could have descended a few hundred yards to Rock Creek, a route that would have taken them along the Potomac River and eventually to free territory in Pennsylvania. Mixed burials largely came to an end there after the early 1850s, when Oak Hill was completed next door and descendants disinterred the remains in many of the white plots for reburial. After the Civil War, Mount Zion became a grazing ground for the horses of Washington’s Metropolitan Railroad, even as burials continued. The cemetery’s slide into obscurity over the next century tracked roughly with that of Georgetown’s black population, which found itself increasingly marginalized as the neighborhood gentrified and evolved into a largely upper-class preserve. Today, less than 5 percent of Georgetown’s residents are black. As descendants of the dead in Mount Zion scattered from Georgetown, the cemetery became an increasingly remote island in a sea of white. The last burial was in 1950. By 1953, Mount Zion was in such disrepair that the city health department ordered it closed. In the 1960s, developers were eyeing the property, and a city judge, at the request of the cemeteries’ owners, signed off on a mass disinterment. Such was roughly the state of things when Mr. deForest became involved. “You could not even see the tombstones when I got there — any of them,” Mr. deForest said. “The bramble and trees and erosion had made them invisible.” Under his group’s direction and with the support of the Mount Zion church, volunteers from schools and colleges across the city cleared the grounds. Impacted graves were filled in and grave markers relocated for regrading. Plans were drawn up for a full restoration and potentially a museum. Then the project stalled amid legal disputes and a lack of funds. Today the cemetery is accessible through a littered parking lot behind an apartment building and known mostly to locals. Many of the grave markers made of more valuable stone have been stolen, destined to be sanded blank and resold for future burials. In 2012, the D.C. Preservation League put the cemetery on its list of most endangered places. A restoration and preservation plan developed last year calls for regrading the site, putting in erosion controls and making other repairs. It also outlines the potential for incorporating remaining grave markers into some sort of memorial where visitors could learn and reflect. So far, there is little money for the group’s ambitions. “It’s an opportunity to be a place that can stand as a symbol to the blacks who were a huge part of the development of this community,” said Alicia deForest, 47, Mr. deForest’s daughter, who has taken increasing responsibility for the project. She helped recruit to the cause Carrie Hull, a professional fund-raiser, who said the project will require millions of dollars and at least several years to complete. -By Nicholas Fandos- NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/us/georgetown-washington-mount-zion-oak-hill-cemetery.html