In June 2000, Montgomery Preservation, Inc. named Rockville Cemetery as one of Montgomery County's 10 Most Endangered Sites.  In the past year, community groups and individuals have taken the first steps toward restoring the cemetery grounds.

The Rockville Historic District Commission is now considering the historical significance of Rockville Cemetery to determine if it meets the criteria for City of Rockville historic district status.  In addition to giving the cemetery important recognition, designation would make the cemetery eligible for grants and other resources needed to survey and document conditions, restore headstones, and plan for ongoing maintenance.

The following is excerpted from Rockville: Portrait of a City by Eileen McGuckian, to be published Fall 2001.

Rockville Cemetery, on Baltimore Road, in addition to being the community's oldest burying ground, is significant as a classic rural cemetery as well as for the many individuals prominent in local history interred there.

Rockville Cemetery began as a colonial burying ground associated with a tiny chapel of ease established by Prince George's (Anglican) Parish in 1738. After 1822, when the congregation moved Christ Episcopal Church into the town of Rockville, it continued to use the graveyard but paid less attention to maintenance than formerly.

Establishment of a community cemetery in Rockville coincided with the desire of the Vestry of Christ Episcopal Church to reverse the ravages time had taken in the old burial ground.  Local citizens had discussed the concept of a public cemetery prior to the Civil War, but took no action until 1880. That year, Judge Richard Johns Bowie donated five acres of land to the Vestry, which deeded the cemetery to the newly-incorporated Rockville Cemetery Association.  The Association was formed to maintain a public cemetery for the burial of all persons, irrespective of religious denominations.  The original Board of Directors, all prosperous, well-respected men, included William Veirs Bouic, Jr. and David H. Bouic (Baptists), E. Barrett Prettyman and Dr. E. E. Stonestreet (Methodists), Hezekiah Trail (Christian), James B. Henderson (Presbyterian), and several Episcopalians, including Judge Bowie.

Go to Rockville Cemetery page 2 >>