Rock Creek Cemetery

St. Paul's Rock Creek believes cleaning our rivers is an important priority, but we feel the current formula for collecting funds for the DC Water Clean Rivers Project has unintentionally harmed historic cemeteries. We are hopeful that the DC Council will adopt Councilmember Brandon Todd's legislation to make our share of supporting this project more equitable.

Why cleaning up D.C.’s rivers is hurting the city’s cemeteries Water bills have soared recently to pay for the $2.6 billion project.

Thanks Sean Kennedy for bringing light to the issue!

Opinion | End D.C.’s ‘rain tax’ on the poor and the dead The impervious area charge is unfairly applied.

Thank you Councilmember Brandon Todd for introducing the DC Cemetery Private Road and Parking Lot Exemption of Clean Water Fees Amendment Act of 2017!

At today’s DC Council legislative meeting, I introduced a bill to alleviate the crushing burden of water fees on District cemeteries, and another to incentivize the purchase of energy and water-efficient appliances.

The “D.C. Cemetery Private Road and Parking Lot Exemption of Clean Water Fees Amendment Act of 2017” comes in response to the dire financial situation of St. Paul’s Rock Creek Church Cemetery in Ward 4, and others like it across the District. In order to finance the Federally-mandated Clean Rivers Project – an extensive infrastructure project designed to reduce the amount of Combined Sewer Overflows into our waterways -- DC Water has implemented the Clean River Impervious Area Charge (IAC). This fee attempts to charge property owners for their individual contributions to stormwater management and fund a much-needed environmental project. But it also has the unintended consequence of threatening to run our cemeteries out of business. At St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Rock Creek Parish Cemetery, their annual water bill used to be approximately $3,500. Now, they’re being billed over $200,000 – most of which is Clean River fees. This is unsustainable, and without immediate action, we risk our cemeteries shutting down and becoming a burden to the community, rather than the asset they are. You can learn more about the problem here from Jodie Fleischer, NBC4: (https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/Historic-DC-Cemeteries-in-Jeopardy-of-Closing-Due-to-Growing-Water-Bills-452918463.html). That is why I have introduced a narrowly-tailored piece of legislation that would exempt private roads and parking lots in DC cemeteries from being included in DC Water’s assessment of their Clean River fees. Cemeteries would still contribute funds to this project, which they are happy to do. However, $200,000 per year is too much to ask, and they need some relief.

Second, I also introduced the “Energy-Efficient and Water Efficiency Sales Tax Holiday Amendment Act of 2017” which would create two tax-free holidays for the purchase of ENERGY STAR and EPA WaterSense certified products. This would improve the District’s environmental performance, save residents money on their energy and water bills, and reduce the leakage of DC tax dollars into neighboring Maryland and Virginia, which both have similar tax-free weekends.

I strongly believe that these bills would make our District an even better place, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to get them passed by the DC Council!

Join us this Saturday, for cemetery hayride tours as part of the 151st Strawberry Festival. Fun for all the family!

Calling all volunteers...Join Casey Trees in adding trees to the beautiful Rock Creek Cemetery on May 6th. To sign up, go tohttp://caseytrees.org/event/volunteer-rock-creek-cemetery-community-tree-planting-2/

Volunteer: Rock Creek Cemetery Community Tree Planting - Casey Trees | Restore, enhance and protect the tree canopy of the nation's capital. D.C.-based urban forestry non-profit dedicated to restoring, enhancing and protecting the tree canopy of the nation's capital.

Looking for a place around DC to get some peace and quiet, come explore our park-like historic cemetery, whose Adams Memorial was highlighted in the Washingtonian magazine. You will not be disappointed.

The 6 Best Places Around DC to Get Some Peace and Quiet Six of our favorite places to perch—whether for a great view, a bit of romance, or quiet contemplation.

Come take a stroll through Rock Creek Cemetery...this park-like setting provides a dignified resting place for the dead and a refuge for the living.

How Just 15 Minutes in Nature Can Make You Happier Yes, that includes city-dwellers

Getting to know some of our famous residents...

"I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches." -Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Alice Roosevelt Longworth - Theodore Roosevelt's Daughter - Roosevelt Almanac

Ever wonder who is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery? Well, RCC serves as the final resting place to some of Washington’s most notable residents. Check them out...

St. Paul's Rock Creek - Washington, DC: Famous Residents St. Paul's Rock Creek - Washington, DC

Remembering our loved ones who have died on All Saints' Day, especially those resting at Rock Creek Cemetery.

Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Did you know that dating from 1719, Rock Creek Cemetery is Washington’s oldest cemetery and was designed as part of the rural cemetery movement first advocated by the architect Sir Christopher Wren in 1711. The burial ground in the churchyard’s urban space, with its natural 86-acre rolling landscape, functions as both cemetery and public park.