Woodlawn Cemetery

a.k.a. 51SE38

4611 Benning Rd., SE, Washington, DC
Local significance of the site:
Historic - Non-aboriginal; Black; Social History; Politics/government; European

Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.

The city was built on a swamp: The area that is now Washington, D.C. was originally a swampy, marshy region along the Potomac River. The construction of the city involved extensive drainage and landfill projects to make the land suitable for building.