Tomb Raiders in Arlington

Arlington's once-grand Abbey Mausoleum was demolished after falling victim to vandals. But its treasures live on.

In late October 1976, police discovered a gruesome scene inside the Abbey Mausoleum, a once grand burial place next to Arlington National Cemetery. Vandals had tampered with a dozen caskets and 15 urns, placing a copy of Circus (a now-defunct music magazine) into one opened coffin. In the gray cremains from an overturned urn, someone had drawn a smiley face.  

It wouldn’t be the tomb’s only raid. In another incident three years later, saboteurs desecrated dozens of skeletons, mounting some of the skulls on broomsticks. By the 1990s, the mausoleum was shrouded in overgrowth, and investigators found evidence of satanic rituals, including dead cats, pentagrams, candles and bloody handprints. 

“It was in horrible disrepair,” says Angela Anderson Adams, director of Arlington Public Art. “Vandals had broken some of the windows, and people were getting inside. It had this creepy formaldehyde smell.”

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The Abbey Mausoleum - Arlington, VA
The Abbey Mausoleum, once a sacred burial site for notable figures in Arlington, Virginia (Photo courtesy of Library of Congress)

It was a dark outcome for a stately granite and marble structure that the U.S. Mausoleum Co. had built between 1924 and 1926 as a final destination for judges, military officers and other notable figures. Housing more than 650 crypts, the mausoleum featured 13 stained-glass windows designed by the famed Louis Comfort Tiffany studio—“the only known example [of Tiffany windows] in Arlington,” according to Lorin Farris, acting Arlington County historic preservation supervisor.

By the 1950s, however, the mausoleum was suffering from financial losses and neglect. Many families disinterred relatives and buried them elsewhere. A half-century later, the federal government slated the building for demolition in 2001. Today, the site is part of the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall complex.

The restored Tiffany “Christ in Blessing” window now has a new home in Ballston. (Courtesy photo)

At the time the wrecking ball was looming, officials from Arlington County’s historic preservation and public art programs worked together to salvage the Tiffany windows. Eight of the original 13 were deemed in good enough condition to be restored and installed in other county sites, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, the Fairlington Community Center and the Westover Library.

Just one window remained in county storage: “Christ in Blessing,” the largest at 6-by-9 feet, which was the only one bearing Tiffany’s signature. Earlier this year, after a meticulous restoration by Washington Art Glass Studio, county and church officials found a home for the window in the newly renovated Central United Methodist Church of Ballston, part of the mixed-use Ballston Station development. 

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“The Tiffany windows are a big deal,” Adams says. “Due to the patience and diplomacy of historic preservation and public art, the vision did not get lost.” 

Perhaps now, the ghosts of the Abbey Mausoleum have finally been laid to rest.

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