Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery Seal
Details
Established	May 13, 1864
Location	Arlington County, Virginia
Country	United States of America
Coordinates	38°52′48″N 77°04′12″W / 38.880°N 77.070°W / 38.880; -77.070
Type	National
Owned by	U.S. Department of the Army
Size	624 acres (253 ha)
No. of graves	~400,000[1]
Website	www.ArlingtonCemetery.mil

Arlington National Cemetery is a cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia. People who served in the United States military are buried here. The cemetery started during the American Civil War. It is on a big farm called Arlington House. Arlington House was the home of Mary Anna Custis Lee. Mary Anna Custis Lee was a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington. She was also the wife of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Although most of the farm now has graves, the old farmhouse still stands in the middle of the cemetery. The cemetery is across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C..

The cemetery covers acres624 acres (2.53 km²). People who died serving the United States in a war, and military veterans are allowed to be buried in the cemetery. People are buried here who fought in wars from American Civil War to the military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. People who were buried here before the Civil War were reburied after 1900.

Arlington National Cemetery is taken care of by the United States Army. Arlington House (Custis-Lee Mansion) and its land are taken care of by the National Park Service as a memorial to Lee. Recently, the way the cemetery is managed caused controversy.

1. ↑ "Davenport, Christian. "Arlington Cemetery Trying to Account for Missing $12 Million." Washington Post. January 25, 2012". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 19, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2022.