Established 1956 Type private Founded 1956 | Country United States Size 92 acres (370,000 m) Phone +1 301-871-6500 | |
Location Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Owned by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Address 13801 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20906, USA Hours Closed now Friday8AM–4PMSaturday8AM–4PMSundayClosedMonday8AM–4PMTuesday8AM–4PMWednesday8AM–4PMThursday8AM–4PM Owner Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Burials John B. Bennett, James B. Carey, John Miller Baer Similar Parklawn Memorial Park, Rock Creek Cemetery, Oak Hill Cemetery DC, Cedar Hill Cemetery | ||
Gate of Heaven Cemetery is a cemetery located at 13801 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, Maryland, in the United States. It is maintained by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. Consecrated in 1956, it was the first Roman Catholic archdiocesan cemetery to open in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in 70 years.
Contents
About the cemetery
The District of Columbia was founded in 1791, and initially several small Roman Catholic cemeteries were established in the city. The last of these, St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery on Lincoln Road NE, was organized in 1870. Despite the rapid growth in the city's population during the next 70 years, no new Catholic cemeteries were organized within the Archdiocese of Washington. The Right Reverend Monsignor Edward L. Buckley of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle was aware of the need to plan ahead, however, and began advocating for the purchase of land for a new burying ground. In 1928, the Catholic Cemetery Association, a private nonprofit organization which purchases land for the creation of Catholic cemeteries, purchased 92 acres (370,000 m2) of land from the Rabbitt family in Montgomery County, Maryland. The intent was to name the new cemetery "New Mount Olivet", although no name was ever formally adopted.
By 1955, it was clear that a new cemetery was sorely needed in the Archdiocese of Washington. The Catholic Cemetery Association turned title to the land over to the archdiocese, and a new cemetery, named Gate of Heaven Cemetery, was established. Gate of Heaven cemetery was laid out around a 10-acre (40,000 m2) cruciform roadway lined with trees. Four roughly rectangular sections extended from each side of this cruciform roadway. Life-size Stations of the Cross were placed at intervals in this central section. All roadways were named for saints, and numerous shrines to saints were scattered about the cemetery's 28 sections. A 100-seat chapel was constructed at the center of the cruciform roadway. The cemetery's main gate was particularly notable. It featured large wrought iron gates set in masonry pylons 10 feet (3.0 m) high and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide. Just inside and to the right of the main gate was a small caretaker's cottage made of stone. The cemetery was dedicated on June 17, 1956, by the Most Reverend Patrick O'Boyle, Archbishop of Washington.
Gate of Heaven Cemetery began receiving interments at the beginning of July 1956.
Cemetery grounds
Gate of Heaven Cemetery is roughly bounded by George Avenue; Connecticut Avenue; Peppertree and Beaverwood Lanes; Birchtree Lane, Beret Lane, the Beret Neighborhood Conservation Area, and the open-air Aspen Manor shopping and retail complex. A portion of the northeast corner of the cemetery was sold in the 1960s or 1970s to the state of Maryland as a means of raising funds for the trust account that maintains the cemetery. Strathmore Park and Strathmore Elementary School now occupy this area. Gate of Heaven Cemetery only used about half of its acreage when it opened in 1956, and only in the late 1990s began expanding onto its unused land.
Gate of Heaven Cemetery is a traditional lawn cemetery. The burial area is a lawn, with trees and shrubs around the perimeter. Most gravestones are flush with the earth, with only a few above-ground memorials. The cemetery also has several mausoleums for interment, as well as several columbaria.
Gate of Heaven Cemetery administers St. John's Forest Glen Cemetery on Rosensteel Avenue in southern Silver Spring.