Sitka National Cemetery
Details
Established1868–1870
Location
Sitka, Alaska
CountryUnited States of America
Coordinates57°03′18″N 135°19′26″W / 57.0549581°N 135.3238021°W / 57.0549581; -135.3238021, Elevation: 43 feet (13 m)
TypeUnited States National Cemetery
Owned byUnited States Army
Size4.3 acres (0.017 km2)
No. of graves~1,500 (2021)
WebsiteOfficial
Find a GraveSitka National Cemetery
Sitka National Cemetery
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Sitka National Cemetery is located in Downtown Sitka
Sitka National Cemetery
Sitka National Cemetery is located in Alaska
Sitka National Cemetery
Location803 Sawmill Creek Road, Sitka, Alaska
Coordinates57°03′18″N 135°19′26″W / 57.0549581°N 135.3238021°W / 57.0549581; -135.3238021
NRHP reference No.12000057[1]
AHRS No.SIT-029
Added to NRHPMarch 7, 2012

Sitka National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Sitka, Alaska. It encompasses 4.3 acres (1.7 ha), and as of the end of 2005 had 1,049 interments. It is administered as part of the Fort Richardson National Cemetery by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

History

Laid out by General Jefferson C. Davis, at some point between 1868 and 1870 during his time as the first commander of the Department of Alaska, as a place to inter military personnel who died while serving at the local Marine base or were under care at the Naval hospital. In 1912, the military withdrew from the area and the cemetery was neglected until 1921 when the Sitka American Legion petitioned the Secretary of the Navy for an allocation of funds to maintain the site.

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge gave an executive order declaring the site a National Cemetery, and the maintenance responsibility was turned over to the United States Department of War. A 1925 revision of the executive order reduced the area of the site, but donations of land in 1957, 1959, and in the mid-1980s made it larger than it was originally.

The cemetery was enlisted as a historic district in the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.[1][2]

Notable monuments

  • There are two cannons that serves as a memorial to all those who are interred at the cemetery.

Notable interments

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ "NRHP nomination for Sitka National Cemetery". National Park Service. Retrieved June 2, 2017.

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