If you drive up toward the Petworth neighborhood in Northwest D.C., you’ll eventually hit a massive stone wall. Behind it sits a place most tourists—and honestly, a lot of locals—completely overlook. It isn't Arlington. It doesn't have the endless rows of white marble stretching into the Virginia horizon, and you won’t find a Changing of the Guard ceremony here. But the Soldiers and Airmen's Home National Cemetery is actually the older sibling. It’s the original. Before Arlington was even a thought in the government's mind, this little patch of high ground was where the weight of the Civil War first started to settle into the earth.
It’s a strange, quiet spot.
While the rest of Washington is buzzing with motorcades and lobbyists, this cemetery feels like a pocket of the 19th century that someone forgot to update. It’s nestled right next to the Armed Forces Retirement Home—historically known as the Old Soldiers’ Home—and it was established in 1861. Think about that for a second. The war had barely started. People thought it would be over in a few weeks. Then the bodies started coming back to the capital, and the city realized it had nowhere to put them.
Why This Place Even Exists
Washington D.C. in 1861 was a mess. It was a swampy, humid, overcrowded construction site. When the Civil War kicked off, the military hospitals in the city were overflowing almost immediately. Not just from battle wounds, but from the stuff that actually killed most soldiers back then: typhoid, dysentery, and pneumonia.
The existing graveyards in the city were full. Congressional Cemetery was packed. The local churchyards couldn't handle the volume. So, the government looked north to the "countryside" of the District. They had this beautiful, breezy hill where the Soldiers' Home sat—a place meant for veterans to live out their days. It seemed like a logical, if somewhat grim, transition to put the cemetery right there. By the time 1864 rolled around, the Soldiers and Airmen's Home National Cemetery was basically at capacity. It only sits on about 16 acres. That's tiny compared to the 600-plus acres at Arlington.
Because it filled up so fast, Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs had to find a new spot. That’s how we got Arlington. If this little hill in Petworth hadn't filled up, the Lee-Custis estate across the river might still be a private farm today.
The Lincoln Connection You Didn't Know
Here’s the thing that really gets me about this place. Abraham Lincoln spent his summers right next door.
💡 You might also like: Tiempo en East Hampton NY: What the Forecast Won't Tell You About Your Trip
Lincoln’s Cottage is literally a stone’s throw from the graves. From 1862 to 1864, the President lived there to escape the heat and the political stench of downtown. Imagine being Lincoln. You’re trying to enjoy a "vacation," but every morning you look out the window and see fresh graves being dug. You see the hearses—simple wooden wagons back then—rolling up the hill.
He watched this cemetery grow.
Historians like Matthew Pinsker have pointed out that Lincoln’s proximity to these fallen soldiers likely shaped the Gettysburg Address. He wasn't just thinking about a distant battlefield in Pennsylvania; he was thinking about the guys he saw being buried while he was drinking his morning coffee. It’s a heavy vibe. You can still feel it when you stand near the boundary wall. It makes the war feel less like a textbook chapter and more like a neighborhood tragedy.
The People Under the Grass
Walking through here isn't like walking through a celebrity graveyard. You won’t find many names that show up in big-budget Hollywood movies. It’s mostly the rank and file. But that’s what makes it special. It’s a cross-section of 19th and 20th-century military life.
The Medal of Honor Rows
There are actually 21 Medal of Honor recipients buried here. One of the most notable is Granvelle McCann, a Navy veteran. But honestly, most of the headstones belong to guys whose stories are lost to time. You’ll see a lot of German and Irish surnames—immigrants who stepped off a boat and straight into a Union uniform.
The Unknowns
There’s a massive granite shaft in the cemetery that marks the burial spot of 278 unknown Union soldiers. They were gathered from various spots and re-interred here. There’s something deeply lonely about that monument. In Arlington, the Unknowns get a guard and a plaza. Here, they just have the shade of some old trees and the occasional sound of a siren from North Capitol Street.
📖 Related: Finding Your Way: What the Lake Placid Town Map Doesn’t Tell You
Major General John Logan
If you like long weekends, you owe this guy a beer. John A. Logan is buried here in a pretty impressive circular tomb. He’s the one who basically invented Memorial Day—or Decoration Day, as it was called back then. He issued General Order No. 11 in 1868, calling for people to strew flowers on the graves of those who died in defense of their country. He chose this cemetery as one of the focal points for those early ceremonies.
It Isn't Just Civil War History
Despite its origins, the cemetery didn't stop in 1865. It’s the "Soldiers and Airmen's Home" for a reason. You'll see markers from the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, Korea, and even Vietnam. It was officially renamed to include "Airmen" later on to reflect the changing branches of service.
It’s a weirdly cramped layout. Because the space is so limited, the headstones are closer together than what you’re probably used to seeing. It feels crowded, but in a respectful, "we're all in this together" sort of way. The VA and the National Cemetery Administration keep the place immaculate, but it doesn't have that manufactured, theme-park feel that some of the bigger national sites have acquired. It feels like a graveyard.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often assume this is just a "backup" for Arlington. Or they think it’s part of the Rock Creek Cemetery nearby. It’s neither.
The most common misconception is that it’s open for new burials. It isn't. Not really. Unless you already have a reserved spot or are a resident of the Armed Forces Retirement Home who meets very specific criteria, this place is "full." It’s a finished book. That’s part of why it stays so quiet. There aren't daily funeral processions clogging up the roads. It’s just... still.
Another thing? People think you can't get in because it's next to a secure federal facility. While the Retirement Home has guarded gates, the cemetery is generally accessible to the public during daylight hours. You just have to know where the entrance is (it’s on Harewood Road).
👉 See also: Why Presidio La Bahia Goliad Is The Most Intense History Trip In Texas
Visiting Like a Pro
If you actually want to go, don't just wander in and look at the stones. You’ll get bored in twenty minutes.
- Start at the Cottage: Go to President Lincoln’s Cottage first. Do the tour. Get the context of what was happening in Lincoln’s head while he lived there.
- Look for the "Old" Section: Head to the eastern side. That’s where the earliest burials are. Look at the dates. You’ll see clusters of deaths from the same regiments—usually a sign of an outbreak of disease or a specific battle like Antietam or Fredericksburg.
- Find the Logan Tomb: It’s the most dominant architectural feature. It’s a great example of Gilded Age funerary art.
- Check the Walls: The perimeter wall itself is a feat of masonry. It’s meant to keep the city out, and it does a remarkably good job of dampening the traffic noise.
Why This Place Still Matters
We live in an era of "big" history. We want the huge monuments and the giant museums. But the Soldiers and Airmen's Home National Cemetery reminds us that history is actually small. It’s 16 acres of individuals.
It tells the story of how a country learns to grieve. Before 1861, the U.S. didn't really have a "National Cemetery" system. We didn't have a plan for what to do with the dead on this scale. This site was the laboratory for the American way of death. We learned how to catalog bodies, how to notify families (or fail to), and how to create a space that felt sacred without being tied to a specific church.
It’s also a reminder of the cost of the capital. D.C. wasn't just a place where laws were made; it was a place where people died to protect those laws. Every time you see a headstone here, you're looking at someone who died in a hospital a few miles away, likely wondering if the Union was going to hold together.
Practical Steps for Your Visit
- Check the Hours: The cemetery is typically open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Unlike the National Mall, there are no night tours here.
- Parking: It sucks. There’s a tiny bit of street parking on Harewood Road, but you’re better off taking a rideshare or the Metro (Brookland-CUA is the closest, but it’s a hike).
- Respect the Residents: Remember that the Armed Forces Retirement Home is right there. It’s a living facility for veterans. Be cool. Don't blast music or treat the grounds like a park for frisbee.
- Use the App: The NCA has an app called "ANC Explorer" which, despite the name, often includes data for other national cemeteries. You can use it to find specific grave sites if you're looking for a relative.
- Bring Water: There are no gift shops. There are no vending machines. It’s just you and the history.
Standing on that ridge, looking out toward the skyline of a city that has changed almost beyond recognition since 1861, you realize that the Soldiers and Airmen's Home National Cemetery is the anchor. It keeps Washington grounded. It’s a quiet, persistent "remember me" from the people who built the foundation of the modern United States, one shovel-full of dirt at a time.