Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The historic district was determined to be nationally significant in the following ways: 1 as America's most sacred national cemetery and as a national memorial to the military history of the United States; 2 it contains the burials of persons of national importance, including presidents, Supreme Court justices and countless military heroes; and 3 as the final resting place of service men and women from the Civil War to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it continues to serve as a national monument to the America's war dead.
Arlington National Cemetery was established during the Civil War as a final resting place for Union soldiers on approximately acres of Mary Custis Lee's 1, acre Arlington estate. The property was also used as a military camp and Freedman's Village during and after the end of the Civil War.
It took shape as a picturesque rural cemetery with the planting of trees, shrubs, and other landscaping, and the addition of roads through the property. Much of the planning and design of the cemetery is attributable to the direction of Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs during the first decades of Arlington National Cemetery's existence. Several memorials, beginning with the Tomb of the Civil War Unknowns in , were erected during his tenure.
The commemorative use of Arlington National Cemetery continued to grow throughout the 20th century. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, placed in , strongly emphasized the memorial nature of the cemetery, and the burial of President John F.
Kennedy in , with a monument and eternal flame on his gravesite, escalated the commemorative use of the cemetery. Today, Arlington National Cemetery continues to serve as an active cemetery and is the final resting place of more than , military personnel, their family members and other dignitaries.
