ABOUT MOSES CEMETERY

Moses Cemetery is a 200+ year old burial ground which was in use during two distinct periods of African history: pre and post-emancipation. It is located in Bethesda, Maryland, right outside of Washington D.C. Today, the burial ground is divided up into multiple sections.

One section, which was in use up until the 20th century, is currently buried underneath a parking lot.

Another section which houses the remains of hundreds, possibly thousands of Africans who were trafficked from Africa to work and die on River Road, is actively being erased.

A third section of Moses African Cemetery, where remains were unearthed during construction and trafficked to a WSSI Warehouse in Virginia. BACC is in litigation to stop the desecration. 

Dozens of bones, some with human DNA, funerary objects, archaeologically relevant soils, and other historically and spiritually sacred artifacts have been removed from the site. Many of these objects have been destroyed. Luckily, some were recovered by BACC in 2020.

By Paul Rispin of farms and estates around 1865 at River Road with 2022 Google Maps. Composite by Gail Rebhan.

Starting in the 1700s, Europeans began trafficking Africans to several plantations along River Road. The four largest plantations were; the Counselman, Shoemaker, Loughborough, and Posey estates. The land around Moses was hilly and unproductive, so it was used as a burial ground for the Africans who died on River Road.

Cabin on Solyom Estate occupied by Botts family members, July 1895. Photo courtesy of Ralph Wooden.

After emancipation, a community of Black people flourished for almost a century – they built homes, a school, ballfields, a church and a cemetery. In the 1860s, white slave owners began selling their land to freed Africans.

Photo courtesy of The Guardian.

By 1910, at least thirty Black families were living along River Road. These families worked in emerging industries or made a living through agricultural production. In 1937, Macedonia Baptist Church established a location on River Road and in April 1945, the church moved across the street to where it remains to this day.