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All the United States Maryland Rockville The Fitzgeralds' Gravesite

The Fitzgeralds' Gravesite

The final resting place of the tragic king and queen of the Jazz Age is tucked away in a small Maryland graveyard.

Rockville, Maryland

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Natalie
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The Fitzgeralds’ Gravesite   Wil Nusser on Flickr
The Fitzgeralds’ Gravesite   Wil Nusser on Flickr
The Fitzgeralds’ Gravesite   UMD Libraries on Flickr
The Fitzgeralds’ Gravesite   UMD Libraries on Flickr
Gravesite of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald in Rockville, MD.   phsforlife / Atlas Obscura User
December 1, 2023   jsbarclay / Atlas Obscura User
Fitzgerald grave in Rockville, Maryland   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
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Pens on the grave   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Famed author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his fabulous wife Zelda lived opulent lives of wine and roses before falling to respectively tragic ends as though they were characters right out of one of Fitzgerald's novels, and their humble shared gravesite reflects the subtle despair that ran through their lives.

Despite being American royalty in the roaring 20s thanks to F. Scott's novels and Zelda's heady celebrity, later in life the couple's fairytale lives had rotted from within. At the end of his wildly successful writing career Fitzgerald had become estranged from Zelda and worked in Hollywood as a scriptwriter. His wild partying and legendary drinking had caught up with him and left him near penniless. In the meantime Zelda herself, suffering from chaotic bouts of severe depression, bounced around East Coast mental institutions. F. Scott died of a heart attack in 1940, while Zelda passed away a few years later in a hospital fire.

With little money left in the estate and the tarnished reputation of their final years the Fitzgeralds were not immediately given a grand burial. F. Scott was quietly buried in a family plot at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Maryland, and when Zelda passed, she was interred directly above her late husband's body. It was not until years later that a proper headstone was installed for the couple bearing the final words from The Great Gatsby:

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

Today the frequent visitors to the small cemetery often leave gifts and small bottles of booze to honor the couple, but more often than not, the little graveyard is simply overlooked regardless of the giants buried just beneath the surface.  

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Located in a tiny cemetery next to St. Mary's Church & School, in a busy urban area of Rockville. There are only a few handicapped parking spots by the church, but the school has a big parking lot behind it, if you visit when it's not in use.

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nimckenzie

Edited By

Martin, allimo, EricGrundhauser, phsforlife...

  • Martin
  • allimo
  • EricGrundhauser
  • phsforlife
  • jsbarclay
  • Jason Michael Walker

Published

January 26, 2015

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  • http://www.npr.org/2012/09/07/160381786/gatsby-author-fitzgerald-rests-in-a-d-c-suburb
  • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/11/f-scott-fitzgeralds-gravesite-_n_3259784.html
The Fitzgeralds' Gravesite
600 Veirs Mill Road
Rockville, Maryland, 20850
United States
39.080975, -77.143478
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Stonestreet Museum of 19th Century Medicine

Rockville, Maryland

miles away

Latvian Museum

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miles away

Josiah Henson Museum & Park

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Rockville

Rockville

Maryland

Places 4

Nearby Places

Stonestreet Museum of 19th Century Medicine

Rockville, Maryland

miles away

Latvian Museum

Rockville, Maryland

miles away

Josiah Henson Museum & Park

North Bethesda, Maryland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Rockville

Rockville

Maryland

Places 4

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