Washington, D.C.: Self-Guided Audio Walk Through Congressional Cemetery

This self-guided audio walking tour explores Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., through the lives, legends, and oddities hidden among its graves and monuments. It will appeal to travelers interested in history, politics, architecture, Civil War stories, and unusual local character. The route begins at Congressional Cemetery and follows its paths through a compact cluster of notable memorials and burial sites before ending at the grave of Leonard Matlovich. Along the way, you will encounter the cemetery’s famous quirks, including the distinctive “Accordion” grave enclosures, then continue to stories tied to Chester Ashley, bandleader John Philip Sousa, the solemn Arsenal Monument, Beau Hickman, photographer Mathew Brady, architect William Thornton, and the graves of J. Edgar Hoover and Matlovich. This tour offers a different view of the capital: not the grand facades of government, but the personal stories left behind by politicians, artists, reformers, veterans, and eccentrics. The most memorable moments include seeing the cemetery’s unusual funerary design, standing before monuments shaped by national tragedy, and discovering how fame, scandal, service, and individuality all meet in one remarkable historic landscape.