Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Silver Spring, Maryland)
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1956 |
| Location | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 39°05′00″N 77°04′23″W / 39.083206°N 77.073106°WCoordinates: 39°05′00″N 77°04′23″W / 39.083206°N 77.073106°W |
| Type | private |
| Owned by | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington |
| Size | 92 acres (370,000 m2) |
| Website | www |
| Find a Grave | Gate of Heaven Cemetery |
| The Political Graveyard | Gate of Heaven 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.
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.
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