In 1804, the Alexandria city council banned burials within the city limits due to health concerns related to cholera and other infectious diseases common in the early years of the 19th century. The City then allocated space for church graveyards south of town, off Wilkes Street, on part of what was known at the time as Spring Garden Farm. This area provided more burial space and located the graveyards down-river from the city water supply. Christ Church purchased land there for its graveyard on December 15, 1808. On April 20, 1809 the Christ Church vestry decreed that burials in the churchyard adjacent to the church would cease as of May 1, 1809, and that the Warder or Treasurer be authorized to make sale of lots in the new burial ground to any person. Today, the graveyard is bounded on the east by Douglass Cemetery, on the west by a hearse road and Trinity United Methodist church cemetery, on the south by Wilkes Street, and on the north by the former Orange and Alexandria railroad yard which is now Jamieson Street. The earliest burials in the graveyard represented many of the gentry in Alexandria, including the burial of members of the Cooper, Daingerfield, Gilpin, Lawrason, Lee, and Mason families. During and shortly after the Civil War, the population of the graveyard grew substantially. Many Confederate veterans are buried in the graveyard. Burial of cremated ashes continues in the present. The graveyard has not always been maintained as lovingly as it is today. In its early years livestock may have been allowed to graze there, accomplishing the dual function of trimming and fertilizing. As its use declined in the 20th century, the graveyard was allowed to grow over with natural vegetation. Some gravestones were damaged or lost to view during these years.  In the mid-1970s, a committee of parishioners was formed for the upkeep of the graveyard. It has since been maintained in a manner that honors the memories of those buried there. Source: "Wilkes Street Cemetery," Christ Church Episcopal: Our History, 2024.