Robert Ball Sr. Family Burial Ground
About
Date: c. 1854
Historic Designation: Local Historic District, February 28, 2017
Current Use of Property: Cemetery
The Ball family first platted the ¼-acre graveyard in 1865 when the neighborhood consisted almost entirely of farmland; however, the first known interment occurred in 1854. The size of the burial ground decreased due to the conveyance of the property to the Central United Methodist Church, who built the present-day church on part of the land in 1923. In the twentieth century, Ballston experienced a period of dense urban development that now surrounds the burial ground. A section of the original graveyard parcel remains open green space. The cemetery measures 502 square feet.
Significant Features: The Robert Ball Sr. Family Burial Ground represents the character and development of the Ballston neighborhood in the early- to mid-nineteenth century. The burial ground, established by Robert Ball Sr., represents the antebellum rural nature of the community and contains the interred remains of some of the County’s earliest settlers. Family graveyards illustrate the self-sufficiency of these rural landowners and the early American tradition of such burial plots.
The Ball family’s ownership of a tavern and property at the intersection of Wilson Boulevard and North Glebe Road, and their general prominence in the civic affairs of the County, resulted in the naming of the intersection as Ball’s Cross Roads and the eventual naming of the community as Ballston.
More Information
Location
4201 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 View Map
38.8826953,-77.11098659999999
4201 Fairfax Drive ,
Arlington, VA 22203
4201 Fairfax Drive ,
Arlington, VA 22203
Robert Ball Sr. Family Burial Ground