Former Site, Columbian Harmony Cemetery Marker

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Northeast in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Former Site, Columbian Harmony Cemetery
1857-1959

Former Site, Columbian Harmony Cemetery Marker Photo, Click for full size

By Richard E. Miller, 2008

1. Former Site, Columbian Harmony Cemetery Marker

Inscription. Many distinguished Black citizens including Civil War veterans were buried in this cemetery. These bodies now rest in the new National Harmony Memorial Park Cemetery in Maryland.

Erected by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Location. 38° 55.229′ N, 76° 59.756′ W. Marker is in Northeast, District of Columbia, in Washington. Marker can be reached from the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue NE (U.S. 1), on the right when traveling east. Click for map. Marker is at the main entrance to the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metro train station, off the parking area, one block southwest of the Rhode Island Avenue (US Rte. 1)/Reed Street, NE, intersection. Marker is in this post office area: Washington DC 20018, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, as the crow flies. Pope John Paul II (approx. 0.7 miles away); Metropolitan Wesley A.M.E. Zion Church (approx. 0.9 miles away); Charles Richard Drew Memorial Bridge (approx. 0.9 miles away); "Ole Jim" (approx. 0.9 miles away); Provisions for the City (approx. one mile away); Edward Miner Gallaudet (approx. one mile away); Site of the Rose Cottage (approx. one mile away); Chapel Hall (approx. one mile away). Click for a list of all markers in Northeast.

Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metro Station Photo, Click for full size

By Richard E. Miller, 2008

2. Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metro Station

Columbian Harmony Cemetery Marker is on pillar at entrance, center rear of photo.

Also see . . . National Harmony Cemetery, Landover, MD. History of the original cemetery (displaced by construction of the Metro Station) and location of graves reinterred at National Harmony. (Submitted on December 25, 2008, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)

Additional comments.
1. Columbian Harmony/National Harmony...
The original cemetery spanned a large area bounded by Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood Road and the B&O Railroad right of way. Its relocation in 1959-60 to Landover, MD (after years of neglect and deterioration, including use of the D.C. site as a Department of Transportation impound lot) was accompanied by accusations of governmental racism and mismanagement, overlooked graves and misidentified re-interments. Among notable veterans re-interred at National Harmony are Medal of Honor recipients Christian A. Fleetwood and Thomas R. Hawkins, Osborne P. Anderson (a surviving member of John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry in 1859), and Henry Vinton Plummer (a Civil War sailor and later the first Black chaplain in the Regular U.S. Army).

— Submitted January 31, 2009, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Additional keywords.