Arlington Cemetery History

On a hill in Arlington National Cemetery with a view of Washington DC is the grave of Pierre L'Enfant, who designed the street plan for the city.

Arlington Cemetery history began when the Arlington House was confiscated by the Federal Government in 1863 from its owner, Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Arlington National Cemetery is America's most revered burial ground, which shows the Nation's history through the stories of those buried there.

In 1864, Private William Christman, 67th Pennsylvania Infantry, was the first person to be buried on the grounds of the estate. Later that year the cemetery was officially commissioned a military cemetery.

Early burials were done in the vicinity of Mrs. Lee's rose garden to keep the Lees from returning to their home. The plan worked. When Mrs. Lee returned to Arlington House in 1873, she was distraught by its condition and returned to her home in Lexington, Virginia.

A total of 2,111 Civil War Unknowns were buried in a memorial just outside of Arlington House in 1866. This memorial was the first of many built on the cemetery grounds to honor Union Soldiers. A small amphitheater was dedicated in 1874, for the crowds that attended Memorial Day ceremonies to honor Civil War-era dead.

In 1882, the Supreme Court declared the United States Federal Government a trespasser on the Arlington grounds and ordered the lands returned to the Lee family. With over 10,000 grave sites already there, George Washington Custis Lee sold the land to the U.S. Government for $150,000.

Interments of those who died in American conflicts began in 1892, with the first of several Revolutionary War casualties.

In 1899, Spanish-American War Soldiers were brought back from the battlefields to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, marking the first time that American Soldiers who died on foreign soil were brought back to the United States for burial.

Many influential people from the Nation's Capital were buried at Arlington National Cemetery, such as the designer of the city, Pierre L'Enfant. Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of President Abraham Lincoln, was buried in 1921, with his tomb overlooking the Lincoln Memorial.

In 1930, William Howard Taft became the first of only two presidents to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Due to large crowds at Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington, there was a need for more space for visitors. In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson laid the cornerstone to the new Memorial Amphitheater which was dedicated in 1920.

The United States' Unknown Soldier from World War I was interred in front of the recently refurbished Memorial Amphitheater on Armistice Day, November 11, 1921.

In 1932, the carved top of the tomb, as it now stands, was set into place. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was placed under a 24-hour honor guard in 1937.

In 1958, unknown soldiers from World War II and the Korean Conflict were interred on the plaza in front of the World War I Unknown Soldier.

On November 22, 1963, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated. He was laid to rest directly below Arlington House.

Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 ,and was buried in a memorial site adjacent to his brother's.

Many well-decorated military men and women are buried at Arlington Cemetery, such as General John "Black Jack" Pershing in 1948 and Audie Murphy, the most decorated World War II soldier, in 1971.

When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded seventy-four seconds into its flight, the world mourned. Commander Francis Dick Scobee and Navy test pilot, Michael Smith, two of the astronauts, were buried at Arlington National Cemetery in 1986.

In 1984, the latest addition to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added when the Vietnam Conflict Unknown Soldier was interred between the Korean Conflict and the World War II Unknown Soldiers.

Arlington National Cemetery remains the Nations most revered burial site, the final resting place for over 300,000 Americans. Its grounds consecrated by the sacrifice and dedication of its sons and daughters.

Those who visit Arlington Cemetery honor those who have served their country in war and in peace and who now rest forever in their final post.