Parts of Rock Creek trail closed for study of historic Black cemeteries
WASHINGTON - A popular trail for joggers and bikers in the District is partially closed for most of March.
On March 21st, the National Park Service is planning to use ground-penetrating radar to look for possible remains and artifacts at two of D.C.’s oldest African American cemeteries that surround part of the Rock Creek Trail near Georgetown.
Lisa Fager, executive director of the Mt. Zion Female Union Historic Memorial Park – the nonprofit that maintains the two cemeteries, said in September she noticed construction workers digging on the land.
She says the group was never notified by the National Park Service or the city before crews started digging.
Officials with the National Park Service told FOX 5 they stopped once they were notified by Fager.
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"It was stopped because this land was once owned by the cemetery all the way down to the water," Fager said. "This place is a sacred space. It is, again, the oldest African American cemetery in D.C. and it served more than being a cemetery. It was part of the underground railroad."
She says the federal government took the land in 1931 by eminent domain, so they didn't have documentation the area was ever checked for human remains or other artifacts associated with19th-century burials.
Officials with the National Park plan to look around the area on March 21st. In the meantime, the city has closed part of the trail and posted signage but Fager says it’s still not keeping people out.
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FOX 5 caught two people on camera ignoring the signs and barriers. "They’re jumping the fences, they literally have to go over five barriers," Fager said. "People are throwing their bikes, they’re jumping over it. They’re trampling around the cemetery just to get on this little piece of trail. We just want people to respect this land. I don’t think one month is going to kill you not running on this 100 yards of space."
The trail is expected to open back up on March 28th.