Although the cemetery buried both White and Black persons since its inception, it served an almost exclusively African American population after 1849.

In 1842, the Female Union Band Society purchased the western lot to establish a secular burying ground for African Americans.

It was a major port for the slave and tobacco trade in the area and a center for mills and markets for the newly created city of Washington.

[4] These burial grounds are the resting place of enslaved and freed Black persons, their descendants, and a small number of individuals of European heritage (those not disinterred and reburied in other cemeteries).

The cemeteries are believed to have served as an extension of the nearby Black community of Georgetown for enslaved persons seeking freedom via the 'Underground Railroad'.

The Mount Zion Cemetery/ Female Union Band Cemetery is one of the oldest remaining African American burial grounds in Georgetown and greater Washington, D.C.. As such, the Joint Committee on Landmarks designated the cemetery a Category II Landmark of importance that contributes to the cultural and visual beauty of the District.

[6] Preservation, restoration and education programs are managed on behalf of the Trustees of the two cemeteries by the Mount Zion – Female Union Band Historic Memorial Park, Inc..