{"nrhp_refnum":"96000032","name":"Winchester National Cemetery","other_names":["VDHR File No. 138-35"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"401 National Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Winchester (Independent City)","county":"Winchester","state":"VA","lat":39.18438603900006,"lon":-78.15657638499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-02-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Winchester National Cemetery is a Civil War-era national cemetery at 401 National Avenue, Winchester, Virginia, established in 1866 on a 4.88-acre rectangular site enclosed by a limestone wall. It has a lodge, utility buildings, gates and many monuments.","why_significant":"The cemetery is significant under Criterion A for its association with the Civil War, in the military area of significance. It was established in 1866 to hold Union soldiers reinterred from battlefields across the northern Shenandoah Valley region. It also stands on part of the ground where the Third Battle of Winchester was fought in 1864.","narrative":"Winchester National Cemetery occupies 4.88 acres at 401 National Avenue in Winchester, Virginia, enclosed by a limestone wall. Established in 1866, it holds more than 5,000 graves, including a common area for 2,338 unidentified Civil War soldiers reinterred from battlefields and burial sites across the northern Shenandoah Valley and nearby West Virginia. The grounds include a stone lodge begun in 1871 on a reduced version of a design by Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs, later enlarged, along with a utility building, a gasoline storage building, iron entry gates, a flagpole and fourteen commemorative monuments erected by states, regiments and veterans. Two artillery-tube monuments also stand on the grounds. The cemetery was listed for its link to the Civil War. Six major battles took place around Winchester, and the Third Battle of Winchester in September 1864 was fought on the site of the present cemetery. Burials continue only in already occupied graves and for cremated remains.","period_of_significance":"1871-1940","architect_builder":"Meigs, Montgomery C.","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Tudor Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Cemetery officially closed to new interments in 1969, though burials in occupied graves and of cremated remains continue.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.352689-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_AL/96000032.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000032/3986279367-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000032/3986279367-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Sarah Stierch","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennsylvania_Memorial,_Winchester_National_Cemetery,_Winchester,_Virginia_-_Sarah_Stierch_-_A.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Sarah Stierch</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennsylvania_Memorial,_Winchester_National_Cemetery,_Winchester,_Virginia_-_Sarah_Stierch_-_A.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77835624","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_National_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12073011"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/winchester/winchester-national-cemetery-96000032/"}