Ivy Hill Cemetery is a nonprofit, nondenominational, nonsectarian corporation which was chartered in 1856.  It is a community cemetery that has been serving the needs of our local families since before it was chartered. Interments date back as far as 1811, when Ivy Hill was a family burial ground. Some of the birth dates listed on the stones are mid-eighteenth century. As a bequest in the settlement of an estate,  Ivy Hill was established as a community burial ground in 1856.  It is a beautiful, historic, "church yard" style cemetery located in the heart of what is now a prime residential area of the city of Alexandria.  In the last half of the 19th century  Ivy Hill  was out in the country on farm land.  In fact, for the history minded, the land  area where the cemetery is located was, at one time,  in the Virginia portion of the District of Columbia. 

The goal, like the cemetery's charter, is not to profit, but to serve.  Ivy Hill strives to provide the highest level of service, care and products to the families who have chosen to use Ivy Hill for their families, friends and loved ones.  The summation of the mission statement for Ivy Hill Cemetery says,  "we do not wish to be your average anything."  Our goal is to be better then average in all things."   We are committed to this goal, and we are working, and will continue to work, to make that a reality.

The families of Ivy Hill are not just served by the Cemetery,  Ivy Hill Families have also cared,   loved and served the Cemetery.     Arthur Herbert and Mr. Arthur H. Bryant came to the rescue of the cemetery, during and after the Great Depression.   There are no records (by their choice and request) of what these two men and their families put into the cemetery.   They saw a need, and they took care of it,  without fanfare or credit.   The later generations of the Bryant family,   joined by the Bowling family, continued this dedication.   J. C. Herbert Bryant, assisted by J. Travers Bowling, followed by Arthur H. Bryant, II, and lastly Thomas C. Bowling, III,  with able and dedicated assistance  over the years from  Sue Ann Dorr and Sandra K. Selbee  have or continue to provide assistance and/or services to the Cemetery.  Thomas C. Bowling, III, CCE, is now serving as the President and Chairman of the Cemetery Board, as well as working for the cemetery as its general manager, in addition to his other business interests.      In 2002 a fourth generation volunteer from the Bryant Family was asked to serve on the board.  Arthur H. Bryant Jr. has been elected to the Cemetery Board of Directors and in 2007 became the chairman of the finance committee and the Vice President.  John O. Goddin, literally a neighbor, with family ties to the Cemetery was asked to serve and joined the board in 2006.

Ivy Hill has moved into the next millennium, and having it's 145th anniversary in 2001, and marked it's sesquicentennial (150th anniversary)  in 2006.  The Cemetery is continuing its renovations and capital improvements and acquisitions thanks, in no small part, to some very needed and welcomed contributions and will be continuing work on a master plan to make sure that Ivy Hill can continue its long and distinguished history of community service well into the 21st century.

Ivy Hill, in order to provide full services to its community, has moved from just providing the ground for interments to providing full services. The cemetery offers a full line in memorialization.  Traditional bronze and the new Impact  and Lasting Memories line of premium bronze memorials,  all the way through custom designed premium quality stone monuments, are offered at industry standard pricing.  This is a service  to the families and the additional revenue generated helps keep the total operational costs down and the level of service up.

The Cemetery now offers other products and services for the same reasons.  The addition of cremation niches in the two new columberia located in the Circle of Honor were planned to provide a new option for cremated remains and to increase the usable space of the Cemetery.   Outer burial containers and in ground crypts will also be offered to provide additional services, extend the use and to generate additional income that stays in the cemetery. All products and services will contribute a portion to the care and endowment funds for the long term as well as generating operational income as previously stated.

A long standing dream became a reality during sesquicentennial anniversary with the founding of the Ivy Hill Cemetery Historical Preservation Society.  The purpose of this independent organization is for:  1. The protection, restoration and  preservation of monuments and other structures at the Cemetery that is significant for historical, architectural or aesthetic point of view.  2.  Educational and cultural programs, including lectures and tours.  3. The protection, conservation or cultivation of trees or other flora on the grounds of the Cemetery.   4.  The protection or conservation of birds or other fauna on the grounds of the Cemetery.   5.  Such other charitable and educational activities as are incidental and related in any of the foregoing purposes such as fund raising for major projects and for insuring that there will always be more then just adequate funding for the preservation and maintenance of Ivy Hill, for all time.  

The founders of the society include Gant Redmon, Esq.,  Director,  Alexandria, VA; Arthur H. Bryant, Jr., Director, Orange, VA;    Laurie Blackburn, Esq., CFP,  Director/Treasurer, Alexandria, VA; Deborah G. Matthews, Esq., Director/Secretary, Alexandria, VA;  Laurence O’Reilly,  Director, Arlington, VA;  Steven E. Wooddell, Director Alexandria, Va. Lucy B. Goddin, Director, Alexandria, VA; Thomas C. Bowling, CCE., President Ivy Hill Cemetery, Alexandria, VA; Gordon P. Peyton, Esq., Alexandria, VA; Sandra K. Selbee, Secretary, Ivy Hill Cemetery, Alexandria, VA; Arthur H. Bryant, II, Past President and Chairman, Ivy Hill Cemetery.  The current president of the Historical Preservation Society is Lucy Burke Goddin, she along with a core of initial volunteers are responsible for already making great things happen.  (see and use the link for the Society)

One of the areas of interest expressed as a short term goal for this Society is in additional tree care and a reforestation program. The over-mature oaks and other trees at Ivy Hill are being lost to weather and to old age. The Cemetery is spending all its budget and more on its trees and is planting new trees but it can and will take resources far above what the Cemetery can justify out of its funding.   In the area of restoration and preservation an historic structure at the cemetery, the receiving vault, is under consideration for major fund raising effort to preserve and develop a new use for this structure.

The infrastructure is as old as the Cemetery. The cost of capital improvement to that, let alone just trying to maintain the old infrastructure at today's costs also is a strain on the budget. This has also been targeted as an area in the short term where a historical preservation society may take an active part.

Ivy Hill  has had to again raise its prices to budget more for these things but there is a limit, that we may have reached, before the net result is that the Cemetery will be an exclusive cemetery and that was not and is not the intention.  The lower priced sites are fast being used and the prices are rising much too fast.  Ivy Hill's goal is to serve its community for as long as it can with the best services and products that it can provide.  To accomplish this goal Ivy Hill will need the support of the community through their support of this Ivy Hill Cemetery Historical Preservation Society.