Cemeteries

BALL-CARLIN CEMETARY (1785)

300 South Kensington Street

Here between 1766 and 1908 were buried members of the Ball and Carlin families. In 1742 John Ball was granted 166 acres in this area and in 1748 his brother Moses Ball was granted 91 adjoining acres, now the site of Doctor’s Hospital. They were cousins of George Washington who acquired an adjoining tract along Four Mile Run in 1785. After John Ball’s death in 1766, his estate was sold to William Carlin who was one of Washington’s tailors. Fragments of the original Ball-Carlin log house are within the walls of the house at 5620 3rd Street South. About 1800 Carlin built a log house that still stands at 5512 North Carlin Springs Road. In present Glencarlyn Park his descendants operated “Carlin Springs”, a popular resort during 1872-1884.

OLD BALL FAMILY BURIAL GROUND (1814)

Washington Boulevard between North Lincoln Street and North Kirkwood Road

This is one of Arlington’s oldest family burial grounds. Ensign John Ball (1748-1814), a veteran of the American Revolution (Sixth Virginia Infantry), is buried here. John Ball was the son of Moses Ball, who was one of the pioneer settlers in the Glencarlyn area of Arlington. Also buried in the cemetery are many of John Ball’s direct and collateral descendents, including John Wesley Boldin, a Civil War soldier (Company D, Third Pennsylvania Cavalry), and members of the Marcey, Stricker, Donaldson, and Croson families.

SOUTHERN SHREVE CEMETERY

Between North Frederick Street and North Harrison Street off of North 10th Street, behind St. Ann Catholic Church

Five generations of the Southern, Shreve, and related families are interred in this burial plot. The Shreve family in Arlington dates from the arrival of Samuel Shreve from New Jersey about 1780. Shreve purchased a tract of land near Ballston in 1791. The earliest grave (1832) is that of John Redin (Sixth Continental Line), a veteran of the American Revolution. Redin’s daughter married Richard Southern.

TRAVERS FAMILY GRAVEYARD (1830)

1309 South Monroe Street

John N. and Elizabeth Causin Travers established a 30-acre farm here in 1832, when Arlington was rural and had less than 15,500 inhabitants. Over the years the land was subdivided. Descendants and kin lived here, contributing to the life of Arlington into the 20th century. The graveyard on family land continued a burial tradition common in the rural south. At least 15 members of the related Travers, Whitehead, and Dyer families were interred here, including John N. Travers (d. 1837). His will asks that this space “bee reserved for a bury ground for the family on my west line nevour to bee parted with or tilled as long as eternity shall last.” In 1990 there were 15 marked and likely more unmarked graves.

WALKER CHAPEL AND CEMETERY (1871)

4102 North Glebe Road

Walker Chapel, a small frame country church of the Mount Olivet Circuit, was dedicated at this location on July 18,1876. It was named in honor of the Walker family who donated the Walker Grave Yard as a site for the church. A new frame church was built nearby in 1903 although the original chapel structure continued in use as a Sunday School until its demolition in 1930. The present building dates from 1959. The earliest recorded burial in the adjacent cemetery was that of David Walker, who died in 1848.