Chartered by Congress in 1852, Glenwood Cemetery was the first for-profit cemetery in the District, and among the first nationwide. This business model, initially disdained as disrespectful to the deceased, has since been adopted by most cemeteries, from the late 19th century to the present. Glenwood was laid out by engineer George F. de la Roche, whose landscaping and curving roads frame the cemetery's diverse collection of grave markers, statuary, mausoleums, and other memorials, as well as the chapel, a historic landmark.

The cemetery's picturesque landscape, with curving roads and carefully placed trees and shrubs, frame a diverse collection of funerary markers and memorials. Continuously active since site work commenced in 1852, the cemetery embodies stylistic interpretations of the three major cemetery design movements of the 19th and 20th centuries: the Rural, Lawn Park, and Memorial Park Movements.

DC Inventory: April 28, 2016

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Built in 1892, the Glenwood Cemetery Chapel is a significant example of the Romanesque Revival style of architecture, exemplifying the widespread influence of the design principles of Henry Hobson Richardson. The building is the notable work of Glenn Brown, one of the most influential Washington architects of his generation and a national leader of the American Institute of Architects.

The chapel epitomizes the design principles Brown espoused early in his career, before initiating a seminal campaign to improve the planning and architecture of the federal city along classical lines. The building is the focal point of Glenwood Cemetery, a product of the "rural cemetery" movement (chartered in 1854, after an 1852 ordinance that banned cemeteries within the city limits). The chapel is centered within a central circle on the picturesque undulating grounds laid out by civil engineer George F. de la Roche. The chapel is built of Flemish bond brick, with a massive steep-pitched slate roof, dormers, a Syrian-arched entrance, and a rose window.

DC Inventory: August 17, 1988

National Register: January 9, 1989

Within Glenwood Cemetery Historic District

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