{"nrhp_refnum":"95000922","name":"Cold Harbor National Cemetery","other_names":["VDHR No. 42-136"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Jct. VA 156 and 619, .5 mi. E","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mechanicsville","county":"Hanover County","state":"VA","lat":37.64358483500007,"lon":-77.28171903699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-08-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Cold Harbor National Cemetery is a 1.4-acre Civil War-era national cemetery on State Route 156 near Mechanicsville, Hanover County, Virginia, established in 1866 and enclosed by a brick wall, with a stone lodge built in 1870.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion A for its association with the Civil War and the Battle of Cold Harbor, and under Criterion C because the lodge reflects a prototypical design by Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs. It is part of the Civil War Era National Cemeteries multiple property listing.","narrative":"Cold Harbor National Cemetery occupies 1.4 acres east of Richmond in Hanover County, Virginia. Established on April 30, 1866, it holds the remains of soldiers gathered from battlefields over a wide surrounding area, including 1,313 unknown Civil War soldiers among about 2,099 interments. Two burial mounds hold 889 unidentified Union dead, marked by a marble sarcophagus placed in 1877. Monuments erected in 1909 by Pennsylvania and New York honor their regiments, and a cast iron artillery tube serves as another memorial. A brick wall encloses the grounds. The Second Empire stone lodge, built in 1870 from a design by Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs, is joined by a pump house, utility building and gasoline storage building from the 1920s and 1930s. The cemetery was listed for its link to the 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor and for the lodge's design.","period_of_significance":"1866-1936","architect_builder":"Meigs, Montgomery C.","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Second Empire","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed to new casketed interments in 1970, but burials in occupied graves and of cremated remains continue; as of January 1995 there were 11 sites available for cremated remains.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.64262-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_AL/95000922.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000922/0087978fc1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000922/0087978fc1-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Charles B. Fraser, Fraserdesign, Photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cold_Harbor_National_Cemetery,_6038_Cold_Harbor_Road,_Mechanicsville_(Hanover_County,_Virginia).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Charles B. Fraser, Fraserdesign, Photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cold_Harbor_National_Cemetery,_6038_Cold_Harbor_Road,_Mechanicsville_(Hanover_County,_Virginia).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77835169","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Harbor_National_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5142272"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/hanover-county/cold-harbor-national-cemetery-95000922/"}