Woodlawn Cemetery

Here follows an excerpt from the Fairfax Genealogical Society website:

WOODLAWN CEMETERY
West side of Woodlawn Road (Route 618) at its intersection with Meeres and Gorgas Roads
Fort Belvoir, Virginia USA

Original Information from Volume 5 of the Gravestone Books

Woodlawn Cemetery is located on the west side of Woodlawn Road (Route 618) at the intersection of Woodlawn with Meeres and Gorgas Roads. The cemetery is bordered by Woodlawn Road on the east, Gorgas Road on the north, Lee Road on the west, and Parke Road on the south. A large weathered sign on a brick base which faces Woodlawn Road identifies the site as “Woodlawn Cemetery of the Woodlawn U. Meth. Chr.” The cemetery is owned and maintained by Woodlawn United Methodist Church, 7730 Fordson Road, Alexandria, Virginia, in the Gum Springs area.

The cemetery was surveyed in 1976, 1988, 1997, 1998, and was the subject of an archeological and environmental study in 1997, which is on file in the Virginia Room of the Fairfax City Regional Library.

Woodlawn Methodist Episcopal Church was constructed near this site after the Civil War, according to the archeological and environmental study. In 1866, William Holland, John Green, William Franklin Moore, James Dent and Stephen Blair, Trustees of the Woodlawn Colored Meeting and School Association, purchased a parcel of land near the church for use as a cemetery. The church and cemetery occupied about one acre along Woodlawn Road. The congregation continued to acquire land in the area, according to the study, establishing a school and organizing Lodge No. 3488 of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows.

In 1918, land west of Woodlawn Road was acquired by the United States Government for use as a military base, Camp A. A. Humphreys. The government’s acquisition, however, did not include “institutional properties” which included churches and cemeteries. When the government condemned the land on the east side of Woodlawn Road at the beginning of World War II, however, the Woodlawn community was destroyed. Many of the residents of the community, as well as Woodlawn United Methodist Church, moved to the Gum Springs area of the county to join those displaced earlier. The leaders of the early Woodlawn community are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Maintained by the church congregation, the cemetery is well cared for and in current use. The survey begins in the northeast corner of the cemetery near the intersection of Woodlawn, Gorgas and Meeres Roads.

The following grave markers were recorded in 1976, but not found in 1988, 1997 or 1998:

Patrick McCleary
aged 72 yr 9 Nov 1974
Zeb Elmore
aged 65 yr 6 Jun 1973
Betty Mack
aged 95 yr 17 Jan 1975

The following grave marker was recorded in 1976 and 1988, but not found in 1997 or 1998:

Charles E. Slaughter
aged 31 yr 8 Jun 1967

The following grave markers were recorded in 1988, but not found in 1997 or 1998:

Frances McCleary 1912 1984
Sarah McCleary 1943 1982
Paulette Herman 1949 1986
B. L. R. Holland 9 Jan 1918 6 Apr 1918

No Updates from Volume 6 of the Gravestone Books


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fairfax County African American History Inventory created by the George Mason University Center for Mason Legacies:

In 1866, the first Woodlawn United Methodist church was built on a plot of land adjacent to where the current cemetery exists. The land was donated by a Quaker neighbor, Joseph Cox in response to a request from William Holland. The church was built from local lumber and from additional materials from stables at Fort Myers in Arlington. In 1888 the original church was torn down and a new one constructed on the opposite side of the road. That church remained until the Army purchased the land and the congregation relocated to Gum Springs.

The first 2 structures were located on what is now Fort Belvoir at the intersection of Woodlawn, Gorgas and Meeres Road. In 1941, the land was condemned by the Federal Government for the expansion of the Fort and many members of the Community moved to Gum Springs. They constructed a new church at 7730 Fordson Road Alexandria, VA 22306. The building is still in use, but a new larger facility has been built at 7010 Harrison Ln, Alexandria, VA 22306.