Last updated: March 21, 2023
Place
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
Quick Facts
Location:
Point Loma, San Diego, CA
Significance:
National Cemetery
Designation:
California Historical Landmark
MANAGED BY:
Amenities
4 listed
Bus/Shuttle Stop, Parking - Auto, Parking - Bus/RV, Public Transit
This cemetery which borders our park is one of the largest national cemeteries in the United States. It is the final resting place for more than 120,000 Americans who died as long ago as 1846. The cemetery was established in 1882 as part of Fort Rosecrans and the oldest interments were relocated and reburied here. Due to limited space, casketed remains stopped being accepted in the late 1960s, but burials still exist here for cremated individuals, but all available spaces were allocated in 2014.
The cemetery emerged as part of Fort Rosecrans, San Diego’s first US military base, which most of our park was once a part of. Shortly after the United States conquered California in 1848, the government identified the strategic value of Point Loma and declared the entire area a military reservation where coastal defenses would be developed. The first installation was at Ballast Point where the Spanish and Mexican governments also had a coastal fort. Fort Rosecrans--named after a Civil War general--grew slowly over time with few defensive facilities until the 20th century.
By the time of World War I, several hundred service members served at Fort Rosecrans and its large gun batteries were oriented to face and protect the coast. World War I generated a large expansion of Fort Rosecrans with many new buildings and facilities, but by 1940 its population had declined to only 287 soldiers. World War II breathed new life into the Fort with large gun emplacements, searchlights, bunkers, and other coastal defenses being built on the coast, including in our park, which was temporarily off limits to the public due to the war. During the war our park was a hub of military activity with jeep and survival training conducted within its current boundaries and soldiers quartered in parts of the park including the Old Point Loma Lighthouse.
In 1947, the US Army declared Fort Rosecrans surplus and a decade later it was turned over to the United States Navy. Naval operations had already existed in this area prior to this transfer; the Nav Electronic Laboratory began operations in 1945 and the Submarine Group, San Diego was created in 1946. Visitors to our park will pass through part of this still functioning Naval Base and the National Cemetery before the enter our park. Even when you are in our park, you will be in the former Fort Rosecrans, as the park itself was created from the fort’s prior land.
The cemetery emerged as part of Fort Rosecrans, San Diego’s first US military base, which most of our park was once a part of. Shortly after the United States conquered California in 1848, the government identified the strategic value of Point Loma and declared the entire area a military reservation where coastal defenses would be developed. The first installation was at Ballast Point where the Spanish and Mexican governments also had a coastal fort. Fort Rosecrans--named after a Civil War general--grew slowly over time with few defensive facilities until the 20th century.
By the time of World War I, several hundred service members served at Fort Rosecrans and its large gun batteries were oriented to face and protect the coast. World War I generated a large expansion of Fort Rosecrans with many new buildings and facilities, but by 1940 its population had declined to only 287 soldiers. World War II breathed new life into the Fort with large gun emplacements, searchlights, bunkers, and other coastal defenses being built on the coast, including in our park, which was temporarily off limits to the public due to the war. During the war our park was a hub of military activity with jeep and survival training conducted within its current boundaries and soldiers quartered in parts of the park including the Old Point Loma Lighthouse.
In 1947, the US Army declared Fort Rosecrans surplus and a decade later it was turned over to the United States Navy. Naval operations had already existed in this area prior to this transfer; the Nav Electronic Laboratory began operations in 1945 and the Submarine Group, San Diego was created in 1946. Visitors to our park will pass through part of this still functioning Naval Base and the National Cemetery before the enter our park. Even when you are in our park, you will be in the former Fort Rosecrans, as the park itself was created from the fort’s prior land.