A Not-So-HIstoric Redo in the Old Oakland Church Cemetery at Fort Ward

A Not-So-HIstoric Redo in the Old Oakland Church Cemetery at Fort Ward

By J. Glenn Eugster

Fort Ward Observer

April 22, 2015

This morning staff from the Office of HIstoric Alexandria, supported by a most able crew of workers from the City's Department of Transportation and Environmental Services, began to heal the ugly scars within the Old Oakland Church Graveyard, adjacent to the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery. The work follows a mis-guided effort last year to quickly find a way to justify the city recommendation to solve long-standing water runoff problems in Fort Ward Park. Deep archaeological trenches dug in the Old Graveyard were part of a plan that city leaders had for placing a berm within parklands that have burial areas that date-back to a time before the City of Alexandria moved families off what is now know as Fort Ward Park.

It is hard to tell what city leaders are thinking these days about solving this problem. However, a meeting between city officials and the leaders of the Oakland Baptist Church to discuss the situation, again, is planned for this week. Hopefully while the long-winded discussions go on city leaders will reconnect the "short-term solutions" to water runoff from the park into the cemeteries. It is also hoped that soil and water conservation measures will be taken on the scared land to prevent soil erosion in to the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery.