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Scheduled for next Saturday, October 29, 2022, “Visiting The Past” is an outdoor event at Washington Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hebrew Rest Cemetery and the Old Church Landing Cemetery, in the historic steamboat town of Washington, LA. The event begins at 9:30am and continued until 12:00 noon.

Washington is one of Louisiana’s oldest settlements, with illustrious stories traversing centuries of history. Among the historical assets in this National Register of Historic Places community are three cemeteries: Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hebrew Rest Cemetery and the Yellow Fever, or Church Landing Cemetery, all included on the National Register of Historic Places.

These sacred places serve as fitting resting places for many of the honorable citizens who helped in the development of the Washington community. Some of their stories will be told at this event.

The Town of Washington Cemetery Foundation is a recognized 501(c) (3) charitable organization. It has assisted in maintaining the three historic cemeteries, but there is still more that needs to be done. Funds from the “Visiting The Past” event will help with preserving, enhancing and maintaining the cemetery grounds and burial structures.

For more information on the event, or to contribute to the foundation, please contact WashingtonCemeteryFoundation@gmail.com or call Dwight Landreneau at 225-0937-2518.

1967 photograph of the grave of Carel Wolff in the Hebrew Rest Cemetery in historic Washington, LA. Carel Wolff (1834-1917), a Washington businessman, was married to Hannah Plonsky, a member of another prominent Washington family. Two of their children, Samuel and Fannie (Annie), died in 1867 from the 1860s Yellow Fever epidemic. At that time Carel Wolff gave land for a Jewish cemetery in the town, named Hebrew Rest Cemetery. He also gave land for much of the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Washington, LA.