Crown Hill National Cemetery | |
 Gravestones in the cemetery (2012). | |
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| Location | Indianapolis, Indiana |
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| Coordinates | 39°49′02″N 86°10′22″W / 39.81722°N 86.17278°W |
| Built | 1866 |
| MPS | Civil War Era National Cemeteries MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 99000486 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | April 29, 1999 |
Crown Hill National Cemetery is a U.S. National Cemetery located in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. It was established in 1866 on Section 10 within Crown Hill Cemetery, a privately owned cemetery on the city's northwest side. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Cemetery encompasses 1.4 acres (0.57 ha) and serves as a burial site for Union soldiers who fought in the American Civil War.
Indianapolis did not have a cemetery specifically designated as a burial ground for Union soldiers until the National Cemetery was established at Crown Hill. Soldiers who died at Indianapolis were initially buried at the city's Greenlawn Cemetery. The remains of the first Union soldier from Greenlawn were interred at the National Cemetery at Crown Hill on October 19, 1866. By November 1866 the bodies of 707 soldiers had been moved from Greenlawn to Crown Hill. The first burial of a Union veteran in the National Cemetery took place on October 7, 1869. The last Union veteran burial in Crown Hill's National Cemetery took place on November 16, 1898. As of December 31, 1998, the National Cemetery had 795 interments.
The National Cemetery contains individually marked graves and commemorative memorials, including a stone monument that was dedicated on May 30, 1889. Three bronze plaques installed on the National Cemetery's grounds provide verses from Theodore O'Hara's "Bivouac of the Dead". Another plaque is inscribed with text of the federal Act, approved in 1864, that establishes and protects the National Cemeteries. Crown Hill Cemetery, including the military cemetery, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 1973. A separate listing for the Crown Hill was added to the National Register on April 29, 1999. The last Union veteran burial in Crown Hill's National Cemetery took place on November 16, 1898. The National Cemetery at Crown Hill is managed by the Marion National Cemetery.