Poplar Grove National Cemetery

Rostrum columns frame a view of Poplar Grove National Cemetery.

Pat Schmidt/NPS

Quick Facts

Location:

Petersburg, VA

Significance:

National Cemetery

Amenities

5 listed

Benches/Seating, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information Kiosk/Bulletin Board, Parking - Auto, Wheelchair Accessible

The eight-acre Poplar Grove National Cemetery is the final resting place for over 6,000 U.S soldiers who died during the Civil War. Soldiers who served in the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, and the Korean War are also buried in the cemetery. One British soldier, a member of the Royal Fusiliers, who died from the flu while training soldiers at Camp Lee during WWI, is buried in section X.

The layout of the cemetery is fairly unique among national cemeteries, consisting of a square parcel with concentric circles radiating from a flagpole at the center. Initially, the Poplar Grove Church meeting hall stood at the center of the cemetery. The deteriorated building was removed in 1868. Beginning in 1871, the federal government implemented a series of improvements to the cemetery, including a brick enclosure wall and iron gates, marble headstones for the graves, and the erection of a superintendent's lodge near the cemetery's entrance. Additional improvements at Poplar Grove National Cemetery included the construction of an iron rostrum (1897) and restrooms and maintenance facilities (1929).

In 1933, the cemetery's management was transferred to the National Park Service. In 1957, the cemetery officially closed to new interments. The last burials were of three unknown U.S. soldiers on Memorial Day in 2003. Poplar Grove National Cemetery is part of Petersburg National Battlefield.