By the early 1890s, the decomposition of bodies in the partially filled cemetery was polluting the nearby water supply and creating a health hazard.

The Commissioners of the District of Columbia (the city's government) pressed for the closure of Graceland to accommodate the need for housing.

With Graceland on the verge of closing, a number of white citizens decided that a new burial ground, much farther from any development, was needed.

[5] Woodlawn's incorporators consisted of five white men: Jesse E. Ergood, president; Charles C. Van Horn, secretary-treasurer; and directors Seymour W. Tullock, William Tindall, and Odell S.

[4] A 22.5-acre (91,000 m2) plot of land adjacent to Payne's Cemetery was purchased,[6] a portion of which was the site of the American Civil War's Fort Chaplin.

[8] Over the years, the closure of smaller churchyard cemeteries in the Federal City as well as some large burying grounds resulted in more mass graves.

[12] In 1981, the association approved a plan to improve Woodlawn by having more than 5 short tons (4.5 t) of fill dirt delivered to the cemetery.

[12] Some financial assistance came in the form of a small annual grant from National Harmony Memorial Park, a predominantly African American cemetery in Landover, Maryland.

The cemetery received a major boost when Congress appropriated $300,000 in 2000 to help the WCPCA clean up the burying ground.

Beginning in 2009, the WCPCA began scanning the entire cemetery to accurately determine the location of graves—a process that was estimated to take three years.

In April 2016, a crew of 180 plus volunteers, organized by the U.S.Coast Guard Liaison to Washington D.C, dedicated hours to clearing brush and other debris as part of an effort to restore historically important veteran's cemeteries in the region.

[12] Richard H. Cain, a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina's at-large congressional seat in 1873 was initially buried at Graceland Cemetery in 1887.

[17] John Willis Menard of Louisiana, the first African American ever elected to Congress,[b] was also buried at Graceland and later moved to Woodlawn.