National Cemetery Administration

Dates of Establishment: National Cemeteries & NCA Burial Sites (3 of 6)

Although the U.S. Army maintained cemetery records in the nineteenth century, it can be challenging to determine dates of establishment along with first and oldest burials. At some locations, the earliest date of the death substantially predates the year the cemetery was established — often this is due to the relocation of remains from other cemeteries when the Army closed military installations. The date a national cemetery was established may correspond to earliest date of death (military or civilian), when the government legally acquired the land, or when a government official authorized or designated the grounds as a national cemetery. In locations where there was room in private cemeteries, the military may have buried its dead in plots designated as soldiers' lots, regardless of service branches interred.

3. Interwar

An expansion of cemeteries for Veterans occurred in the years after the Civil War through the end of World War II. The cemeteries were established predominantly by the federal government or a congressionally-chartered organization. The cemeteries fall into two groups—cemeteries associated with Veteran care facilities and new construction.

New national cemeteries—most created to meet Veterans' needs in a geographical area and/or to provide burial space for World War II dead. The 1930s cemeteries located in major metropolitan areas are known as "interwar" (1934–1939) national cemeteries and represent the first major expansion of the national cemetery system since the Civil War.

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