Burials & Services
Historic Congressional Cemetery is an interdenominational burial ground and accommodates several types of interments, from eco-friendly green burials and inurnments to traditional casket burials. Accommodations are routinely made for family preferences, religious practices, and personal lifestyles and beliefs. We do not require the use of a concrete vault or grave liner, nor do we require embalming of decedents. Families are encouraged to become involved with the burial and ritual process of their choice as long as it does not conflict with state law. Headstones are optional, but must fit within the measurements of the plot itself (see Rules & Regulations for more detail).
Pre-Planning Arrangements
Congressional Cemetery strongly encourages pre-planning of funeral and burial arrangements. We will soon be presenting a pre-planning program with a financial planner and funeral home representative to discuss expenses and benefits of making prior arrangements for funerals and burials.
This option offers:
- Peace of mind that your final wishes will be carried out in the manner you desire.
- Simplicity for loved ones during the grieving process.
Available Sites
Historic Congressional Cemetery’s thirty-five acres currently contain approximately 65,000 burials and 25,000 headstones. Plots are available for purchase in all sections of the cemetery, each with unique historical landscapes, features, monuments, and historic figures.
Congressional Cemetery offers a range of options to meet your family’s needs. Prices for full burial plots range from $5,250 in the cemetery’s east end to $10,100 in the most historic sections. Each full-sized plot can accommodate two traditional full casket burials or up to eight cremation urns. Prices for cremation only burial plots are $5,050, and can accommodate between two and four burials depending upon the dimensions of the burial container. Green burial options are available throughout the cemetery. Burial fees are determined by the depth of the grave at the time of need.
A comprehensive list of available sites does not exist for the public, as availability changes regularly. For information about sites available in specific sections of the cemetery, please contact the office
We are available to assist anyone interested in purchasing a burial plot. Please call the Gatehouse at 202-543-0539 or write to lbuerkle@congressionalcemetery.org.
Interment Options
Traditional Burial
- Interment Rights for 3’ by 8’ Full Body Burial Grave Site
- Grave Liner (optional)
- Open and Close Fee ($2,400 — Single Depth, $3,000 — Double Depth)
- Memorial (optional)
- Monument Placement/Installation Fee for Memorial
Green Burial
- Interment Rights for 3’ by 8’ Full Body Burial Grave Site
- No vault (partial, inverted, or otherwise)
- No lid, concrete box, slab or partial liner
- Open and Close Fee ($2,400 — Single Depth, $3,000 — Double Depth)
- No embalming
- Eco-friendly burial container (wicker or plain pine) or shroud
- Memorial (optional)
- Monument Placement/Installation Fee for Memorial
In-Ground Inurnment
- Interment Rights for 3’ by 4’ Cremation Burial Grave Site
- OR Interment Rights for 3’ by 8’ Full Body Burial Grave Site
- Burial Container (urn, box, shroud)
- Liner (optional)
- Open and Close Fee ($1,000)
- Memorial (optional)
- Monument Placement/Installation Fee for Memorial
Additional Fees
- Lowering Device Rental $550
- Urn Ark Fee $600
- Weekend Fee $600
- Evening Fee (After 5 pm) $600
- Tent (10 x 10) & Chair Rental $50
- Extra Pallbearers $50 each
Offering a dignified place to visit and remember beloved pets in the heart of Capitol Hill.
After years of research, planning, and budgeting, Historic Congressional Cemetery is pleased to offer a new section for pets called Kingdom of Animals. Appropriately located across from the popular “Doggie Day Spa,” where a natural spring comes above ground, the dedicated new section is 12 feet by 100 feet and contains 399 individual pet sites for the inurnment of cremated remains. The first and only of its kind in Washington, DC; it is defined by a solid wood fence along the rear forest and a low, curved wrought iron fence with two gates on the front, facing Prout Street.
We are available to assist anyone interested in purchasing a site. Please call the Gatehouse at 202-543-0539 or write to lbuerkle@congressionalcemetery.org.
Individual Site
- 18 inches square
- up to 12 sets of cremated remains
- includes a granite flat marker
- free engraving
Communal Column
- Each side – up to 10 cremated remains
- Names and dates engraved on the column
- K9 Corps members Column
- Cats only
- Capitol Hill pets
- Citywide pets of all varieties
Individual Column
- Each side – up to 10 cremated remains
- Can be purchased by an individual for all their pets, or an entire column can be purchased by a family or group of friends.
