Arlington National Cemetery

A 624-acre U.S. military cemetery located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is the final resting place for more than 400,000 active-duty service members, veterans, and their families. The cemetery was established during the Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, the antebellum estate of Mary Anna Custis Lee, great-granddaughter of Martha Washington and wife of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. It is now considered the nation’s most prestigious military cemetery.

George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington and adopted son of George Washington, acquired a 1,100-acre plot of land overlooking the nation’s burgeoning new capital in 1802 and began building Arlington House. Upon his death, his daughter, Mary Lee, inherited Arlington House in the form of a living ...